RAWALPINDI - Sohail Tanveer guided Rawalpindi to 6-wicket win over Fata in the National T20 Cup 2017-18 match played here at Pindi Stadium on Thursday.
Rawalpindi were in all sorts of trouble, as they required 16 runs in the final over of Ahmed Jamal. Sohail kept his cool and composure and hit two sixes and one four to land Rawalpindi home with one ball to spare. Soon after the last boundary, wild celebrations broke out in Rawalpindi camp.
Man-of-the-match Umar Amin provided Rawalpindi perfect platform with 49-ball 66 hitting 1 four and 5 sixes, while youngster Nasir Nawaz slammed 42 with the help of 4 fours and 3 sixes. Fata skipper Hammad Azam took 2-23.
Earlier, Rawalpindi Region skipper Umar Amin won the toss and opted to field first. His decision failed to bring desired results, as Fata posted 160-8 on the board in the allotted over. Khushdil Shah gathered 50 runs while Mukhtar Ahmed hit 42 and Sohail Akhtar unbeaten 20. M Asghar bagged 2-41 while Shadab Khan and Sohail Tanveer got one wicket apiece.
In the earlier match played between Peshawar and star-studded Islamabad Region teams, Peshawar defeated Islamabad by 3 wickets in 19.4 overs. Peshawar could have easily thrashed the self-proclaimed champions Islamabad by 7 or even 8 wickets, but moment of sheer madness could have easily deprived Peshawar of a routine victory, as they lost wickets while trying to hit the ball out of the park.
Peshawar were well-placed to win the encounter with at least 2 or 3 overs to spare. They had lost only two wickets at 64 and they lost third wicket at 110, but after that. Peshawar had a batting collapse and they lost next 4 wickets in matter of no time. But they were fortunate to hold their nerves and win the encounter with only two balls left. Israrullah scored 56 and Fakhar Zaman 27. M Irfan took bagged 2-9 while Shoaib Malik, Raza Hassan and Hassan Ali got one wicket each. Israrullah was named player of the match.
It was once again highly disappointing crowd. Despite several times mentioned by this scribe that PCB and chairman tournament organising committee Haroon Rasheed should use commonsense and announce free entry at least at general stands, which could easily pack the stadium, but Haroon is least bothered about arriving Rawalpindi as he is busy in Lahore.
Long queues of youngsters and families are witnessed daily outside the main gate of the stadium, but the security staff doesn’t allow them to enter the premises. On the other hand, they are free to oblige their near and dear ones and there is no check and balance on them. Islamabad and Rawalpindi region guests not only enjoy chairman box passes, but also enjoy free meal, tea and access to the players and ground without having ground stickers.
Why the PCB is keeping mum on sorry state of affairs and why they are not taking any action and paying heed towards highly thin crowd. What is the purpose of wasting passes in bulks on daily basis? Why does the PCB not give free passes to the spectators, who, despite shut down by Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA) sit-in at Faizabad, come in quite numbers. But without having tickets or passes, they were left to wait outside the stadium for hours to have a glance of their favourite players?
