RAWALPINDI - Imran Khalid slammed a six on the last ball to give Faisalabad sensational five-wicket victory in the National Twenty20 Cup 2017-18 match played here at Pindi Stadium on Thursday.

Faisalabad required 4 runs on the last ball to win the cliff-hanger and they must blame them for this tough position. Despite getting off to decent start by Gohar Ali and player-of-the-tournament Sahibzada Farhan, who provided 50-run opening-wicket stand, Faisalabad was close to lose the match due to slow batting and too many dot deliveries, which can cost them match but Sahibzada Farhan once again provided depth to the batting and was declared man of the match for his 47 off 49 balls studded with 3 fours and 1 six while Gohar Ali hit 30. Sohail Khan took 2-19 and Kamran Ghulam and Kashif Bhatti got one wicket each.

Earlier, Saeed Ajmal won the toss and opted to bowl first keeping in mind dew factor. His decision brought desired results, as Peshawar Region were bowled out for 139 in 19.5 overs. Riffatullah Mahmond scored fighting 32 off just 12 balls, by hitting 3 fours and as many sixes while Ubaidullah hit 29. Taj Wali captured 3-29 while skipper Saeed Ajmal and Imran took 2 wickets each. Lahore Whites will take on Islamabad today (Friday) at 9:30am due to Friday prayers and in the last pool match, Fata face Faisalabad.

Earlier, Rawalpindi Region signed off on yet another humiliating defeat and this time at the hands of Lahore Blues. Rawalpindi posted the lowest score of the tournament. Rawalpindi Region president Major (r) Naeem Gillani accepted that it was error of judgment while selecting the players for the region, but he was hopeful that Rawalpindi would bounce back very soon. It was 6th defeat for Rawapindi and they just managed to win a single match against Fata, while they could have easily lost against Peshawar too, had rain not saved their blushes.

Lahore skipper M Hafeez won the toss and invited Rawalpindi to bat first. Rawalpindi were bundled out for 118 in 17.4 overs. Only Iftikhar Ahmed scored 60 off 33 balls, hitting 6 sixes while Zeeshan Malik contributed 24. Salman Agha bagged 3-3, Atif Jabbar 3-25 while Ali Shafiq and Khalid Usman took two wickets each. Lahore reached home in 17.1 overs losing just three wickets. Imam-ul-Haq slammed 36, Salman Agha unbeaten 34 and Ahmed Shahzad 27. M Asghar took 3-13. Salman Ali Agha was named player of the match.