AZHAR KHANLAHORE – A brilliant spell by Khurram Shahzad helped Faisalabad Wolves to score 63-run victory over Bahawalpur Stags in the Faysal Bank Twenty20 Super Eight opening match here at the Gaddafi Stadium Tuesday. It was a great achievement of Wolves’ captain Misbahul Haq who soon after his arrival in the city from South Africa joined his team and led it to impressive victory. Misbah won the toss and opted to bat first. Farrukh Shehzad and Ali Waqas scored 37 runs for the first-wicket which was broken by Fahad Masood, who took the wicket of Farrukh (30). Ali Waqas was the top scorer for Wolves who hammered 39 runs hitting five fours. Asif Ali then came to the crease and contributed 34 runs with three fours and two sixes. After Asif and Ali’s departure, Misbah took the responsibility and scored 22 runs with three fours. Khurram Shehzad added 19 runs with three fours to help his team post a good total of 154-4 in 20 overs. Fahad Masood grabbed two wickets for 14 runs while Imranullah Aslam and M Talha got one wicket each. Khurram Shehzad proved too hot for Bahawalpur Stags as he bowled out two of their batsmen on very first two deliveries and gave his team a superb start. Only Hammad Tariq faced Wolves’ bowlers well and scored 28 runs with three fours and one six. Moinuddin (15) and Kamran Hussain (12) and M Talha (13) were the batsmen who reached double figures as Bahawalpur Stags could manage to score 91-8 in 20 overs. Khurram clinched 4-20 while Imran Khalid, Asal Ali and Ehsan Adil took one wicket each. Khurram was declared man of the match.In another match of the day, Zeeshan Ashraf (58*) and Shoaib Maqsood (45) steered Multan Tigers to five-wicket win over Abbottabad Falcons. Falcons, bating first, posted 141 for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs with Haroon (29), Sajjad Ali (25) and Adnan Raees (34) batting well. Zulfiqar Babar and Shoaib Maqsood took three wickets and Rahat Ali got one. Multan Tigers achieved the target in 17.4 overs for the loss of five wickets. Yasir Shah grabbed three wickets. Sohaib was named player of the match.