LAHORE - Saif Badar’s sparkling unbeaten knock of 34 runs steered Lahore Region Whites to 2-wicket victory over Rawalpindi Region in the National Twenty20 Cup final played at Multan Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
While chasing the target of 163 runs, Lahore Whites were off to good start as they gathered 42 runs for the first wicket stand. M Nawaz took first wicket of Salman Butt, who was playing at 13. Younger brother Umar Akmal then joined elder brother and captain of Lahore Whites Kamran Akmal and both added 35 runs for the second-wicket partnership, as Kamran fell prey to Hammad Azam at his individual score of 42 runs, which he collected in 31 balls hitting three boundaries and 2 towering sixes.
After that, they kept on losing wickets on regular interval as they were struggling at 97-5. Man-of-the-match Saif Badar then steadied Lahore Whites innings as he kept one end intact and kept the scoreboard ticking, thus helping his side register a 2-wicket victory. Saif remained unbeaten at 35 off 23 deliveries hitting one four and two sixes while Umar Akmal contributed 34 off 21 with the help of 5 fours and one six and Wahab Riaz hit 9-ball 18 runs.
Hammad Azam was pick of Rawalpindi bowlers as he grabbed three wickets for 39 runs while Zahid Mansoor, Khalid Usman and Muhammad Nawaz got one wicket apiece. Saif Badar was declared player of the final for his brilliant batting performance.
Earlier batting first, Rawalpindi Region posted 162 runs on the board for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs. Opener Naved Malik emerged as top scorer with 44 runs off 29 deliveries, smashing seven boundaries and one six. The top order failed to click and even couldn’t cross double figures while middle order with the help of tail-enders contributed some significant runs to make Rawalpindi Region respectable. Besides opener Naved, other notable run scorers were Zahid Mansoor (30), Hammad Azam (22) and Muhammad Nawaz (21). For Lahore Whites, Umaid Asif and Amad Butt took two wickets each.
Scorecard
RAWALPINDI:
Naved Malik run out 44
Haider Ali c Ali Khan b Umaid Asif 4
Umar Amin c Umaid b Zafar Gohar 11
Saud Shakeel c Saif b Wahab Riaz 5
M Nawaz(3) c Bilal Asif b Umaid 21
Zahid Mansoor lbw b Amad Butt 30
Hammad Azam lbw b Amad Butt 22
Jamal Anwar run out 10
Khalid Usman not out 1
Sohail Tanvir not out 4
EXTRAS: (b 4, lb 5, w 1) 10
TOTAL: (8 wkts, 20 overs) 162
FOW: 1-6, 2-35, 3-53, 4-67, 5-105, 6-126, 7-157, 8-158.
BOWLING: Zafar Gohar 4-0-28-1, Umaid Asif 4-0-30-2, Amad Butt 4-0-25-2, Wahab Riaz 4-0-26-1, Bilal Asif 4-0-44-0.
LAHORE WHITES:
Kamran Akmal c Umar b Hammad 42
Salman Butt lbw b M Nawaz 13
Umar Akmal c & b Zahid Mansoor 34
Zeeshan Ashraf b Hammad Azam 0
Ali Khan run out 5
Saif Badar not out 35
Wahab Riaz c Naved b Khalid 18
Zafar Gohar run out 2
Bilal Asif c Khalid b Hammad 1
Amad Butt not out 12
EXTRAS: (lb 2, w 1) 3
TOTAL: (8 wkts, 19.2 overs) 165
FOW: 1-42, 2-77, 3-77, 4-95, 5-97, 6-123, 7-127, 8-129.
BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir 2-0-9-0, Sadaf Hussain 3.2-0-26-0, Khalid Usman 4-0-28-1, Mohammad Nawaz (3) 4-0-45-1, Hammad Azam 4-0-39-3, Zahid Mansoor 2-0-16-1.
TOSS: Rawalpindi
UMPIRES: Shozab Raza, Ahsan Raza
TV UMPIRES: Asif Yaqoob
RESERVE UMPIRE: Rashid Riaz
MATCH REFEREE: Mohammed Anees
priza money
WINNERS: Lahore Region W 2.5 million
RUNNERS-UP: Rawalpindi Region 1.2 million
MAN OF THE MATCH: Saif Badar (Lahore W) 100,000
BEST BATSMAN: Khurram Manzoor (Karachi Region W) 100,000
BEST BOWLER: Umaid Asif/Amad Butt 16 wickets each (Lahore W) 100,000
BEST WICKETKEEPER: Kamran Akmal (Lahore W) 5 Victims 100,000