LAHORE - Lahore Region Whites will take on Rawalpindi Region in the National T20 Cup 2018-19 final to be played today (Tuesday) at Multan Cricket Stadium.
Captain Kamran Akmal heroics helped Lahore Whites trounce Islamabad by 88 runs in the second semifinal at Multan Stadium on Monday to qualify for the National T20 Cup final. Kamran Akmal played captain’s knock and emerged as hero of the day from Lahore Whites as he kept on punishing Islamabad bowlers and hammered blustering 93 runs off 52 deliveries with the help of elegant eight boundaries and fabulous five sixes.
The openers and top order couldn’t stay long at the crease and kept on losing their wickets by contributing reasonable runs. Opener Salman Butt played 16 balls to contribute significant 23 studded with four boundaries while Umar Akmal scored 17 and Zeeshan Ashraf 9 runs. After Kamran Akmal, the major contributions came from stylish batsman Ali Khan played just 22 balls to hammer convincing 51 runs wrapped with one four and six towering sixes.
He also contributed vital 84 runs for the fourth-wicket partnership with skipper Kamran Akmal that helped Lahore Whites post a huge total of 219-6 in allotted overs. Wahab Riaz also struck 12 runs. Sohail Khan bagged two wickets for Islamabad while Umar Gul and Ahmed Bashir got one wicket apiece.
Islamabad never really got going in the steep run-chase and could only manage to score 131 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. Islamabad’s batting performance was so horrendous that fast-bowler Umar Gul was the top-scorer with 30 off 31 balls as several Lahore bowlers got in on the act and claimed wickets. They were even reduced to 64-7 at one stage, but Sohail Khan and Umar Gul sensible knocks’ helped Islamabad score 100 plus runs. Sohail Khan contributed 23 runs off 17 balls with the help of three sixes.
Besides brilliant batting display by Lahore Whites batsmen, it was also a combined bowling effort which helped Lahore restrict Islamabad to such a low total. Ammad Butt, Umaid Asif and Bilal Asif captured two wickets each for the winning side conceding 18, 24 and 34 respectively while Zafar Gohar got one wicket for 21. For his phenomenal batting performance, Kamran Akmal was awarded man-of-the-match award.
Earlier in the first semifinal, Rawalpindi Region defeated Karachi Region Whites by six runs. Karachi Region Whites won the toss and elected to field first. Put into bat first, Rawalpindi Region managed 157-9 in 20 overs. Naveed Malik emerged as top scorer with 90 runs which he collected in 54 balls hitting 9 boundaries and five sixes. Saud Shakeel (25) and Hammad Azam (18) batted well for Rawalpindi while none of their remaining batsman could cross the double figures. Raza Hasan, Muhammad Sami and Rahat Ali bowled brilliantly and bagged two wickets each conceding 21, 34 and 35 runs respectably while Arshad Iqbal got 1 wicket for 29.
Credit goes to Rawalpindi bowlers, who managed to defend the target as despite starting the match in great style and with every batsman contributing good runs, Karachi Region Whites failed to achieve the modest 158-run target, as they could 151-4 in 20 overs. Fawad Alam slammed unbeaten 52, Awais Zia 40, Khurram Manzoor 23 and Shoaib Malik 23 but they couldn’t save their team from facing defeat at the hands of Rawalpindi. From the winning side, Hammad Azam was main wicket-taker as he captured 2 wickets for 27 while Muhammad Nawaz and Khalid Usman got one wicket apiece. Naveed Malik of Rawalpindi Region was adjudged as players of the match.
SCORES IN BRIEF:
SECOND SEMIFINAL
LAHORE REGION WHITES: 219-6 in 20 overs (Kamran Akmal 93, 52 balls, 8x4s, 5x6s, Ali Khan 51, 22 balls, 1x4, 6x6s, Salman Butt 23, 16 balls, 4x4s, Sohail Khan 2-36, Ahmed Bashir 1-24, Umer Gul 1-59)
ISLAMABAD REGION: 131-8 in 20 overs (Umer Gul 30*, 31 balls, 3x4s, 1x6, Sohail Khan 23, 17 balls, 3x6s, Ammad Butt 2-18, Umaid Asif 2-24, Bilal Asif 2-34, Zafar Gohar 1-21)
FIRST SEMIFINAL
RAWALPINDI REGION: 157-9 in 20 overs (Naved Malik 90, 54 balls, Saud Shakeel 25, 27 balls, 2x4s, Raza Hasan 2-21, Muhammad Sami 2-34, Rahat Ali 2-35, Arshad Iqbal 1-29)
KARACHI REGION WHITES: 151-4 in 20 overs (Fawad Alam 52*, 37 balls, 2x4s, 1x6, Awais Zia 40, 30 balls, 5x4s, 1x6, Khurram Manzoor 23, 15 balls, 3x4s, Hammad Azam 2-27, Muhammad Nawaz 1-16, Khalid Usman 1-25).