By AM Khan
LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) December 2, 2012: Karachi Dolphins, Bahawalpur Stags, Sialkot Stallions, Multan Tigers, Lahore Eagles, and Lahore Lions sparkled on inaugural day of the National Twenty20 Cup 2012 in Lahore on Saturday.
Karachi Dolphins (164/7) defeated Peshawar Panthers (124 all out) by 40 runs; the debutant Bahawalpur Stags (173/5) stunned the former T20 champions Rawalpindi Rams (154/9) by 19 runs; defending champions Sialkot Stallions (128/2) got the better of Islamabad Leopards (122/9) by eight wickets; Multan Tigers (74/0) outplayed Quetta Bears (72 all out) by 10 wickets; Lahore Eagles (224/2) beat Hyderabad Hawks (166/5) by 58 runs; whereas the star-studded Lahore Lions (144/3) outlasted Karachi Zebras (141/6) by seven wickets.
Karachi Dolphins beat Peshawar Panthers by 40 runs
Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi showed glimpses of his hard-hitting form in the inaugural match of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup 2012 on Saturday when he compiled a 38-ball 50 before getting run out in the 40 runs victory for Karachi Dolphins over Peshawar Panthers in the Group B match at Lahore City Cricket Association Ground.
Peshawar Panthers captain Akbar Badshah won the toss and decided to bowl first to give his bowlers a chance to pounce on the dew factor.
His decision proved right on the first ball with Waqar Ahmed trapping Khurram Manzoor in front of the stumps for a golden duck.
However, the Karachi Dolphins launched a counterattack through explosive Shahzaib Hasan (33 from 14 – 2 fours, 4 sixes) and Khalid Latif (18 from 13 – 2 fours, 1 six) as they raced to 49 for one inside the first five overs before losing both the batsmen in the space of eight deliveries.
Asad Shafiq (21 from 27 – 3 fours) tried to stabilize the dwindling ship but Fawad Alam (Duck) couldn’t help him a single bit before skipper Shahid Afridi had to pad up and deliver the goods with the bat, finally.
Shahid Afridi hit four boundaries and a six during his 38 balls half century and resurrected the innings with a 46-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Asad Shafiq.
A late hitting spree by all-rounder Anwar Ali (27 not out from 18 – 2 fours, 1 six) helped the Karachi Dolphins to a formidable total of 167 for seven from their 20 overs.
Zohaib Ahmed was phenomenal for the Peshawar Panthers as he gave away only 16 runs from his four overs besides taking wicket of Amin-ur-Rehman (3 from 3).
Waqar Ahmed also bowled well for figures of two for 28 but Imran Khan was far from his best as he leaked 63 runs from his four overs. Mohammad Aslam also bowled a miser spell of one for 23 while Azizulla took two wickets for 33 runs.
In absence of Younus Khan, Peshawar Panthers were always a vulnerable batting side as they could only manage 124 runs all out from 19.2 overs with opening batsman Iftikhar Ahmed scoring 57 from 47 balls hitting four boundaries and two sixes.
Anwar Ali completed a good all-round match with figures of two for 24 while Mohammad Sami took one for 24. Misbah Khan took a wicket for 22, Sohail Khan grabbed one for 30, whereas Shahid Afridi, who was declared Man of the Match, captured a wicket for 22 runs.
Bahawalpur Stags beat Rawalpindi Rams by 19 runs
The debutant Bahawalpur Stags delivered a killer blow to former domestic Twenty20 champions Rawalpindi Rams with a 19 runs victory in their Group B match of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup 2012 played at Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore on Saturday.
Rawalpindi Rams skipper Sohail Tanvir won the toss and elected to field first.
Batting first, Bahawalpur Stags scored 173 for five from their 20 overs, thanks to an explosive innings by opening batsman Imranullah Aslam (89 from 53 – 12 fours, 2 sixes).
Samiullah, Awais Zia, and Hammad Azam were the better bowlers for the Rawalpindi Rams as they recorded figures of 2/27, 0/25, and 1/30, respectively.
Rawalpindi Rams lost hard-hitting Awais Zia for a nought but his fellow opening batsman Naved Malik (51 from 22 – 9 fours, 1 six) put great hitting talent on display but lacked support from the other batsmen.
Babar Naeem (14 from 14 – 3 fours), Umar Amin (4 from 8), Hammad Azam (5 from 6), Umar Waheed (2 from 7), and Sohail Tanvir (11 from 13) all failed to impose their authority with the bat as the Rawalpindi Rams were restricted to 154 for nine from their 20 overs.
Kashif Siddiq took three wickets for 22 runs while Ataullah grabbed two wickets for 19 runs for the Bahawalpur Stags but Man of the Match was awarded to Imranullah Aslam for a brilliant batting display.
Multan Tigers beat Quetta Bears by 10 wickets
Fast bowlers delivered the goods as Multan Tigers battered Quetta Bears by 10 wickets in their Group A match of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup 2012 played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday.
Pacers Abdur Rauf (2/33), Mohammad Irfan (3/8), and spinner Zulfiqar Babar (2/3) demolished the Quetta Bears batsmen completely as only three batsmen could reach the double figures.
Especially Zulfiqar Babar was exceptional with the ball as he broke the world record of bowling most economical spell in Twenty20 cricket. He bowled four overs, two maidens, three runs, and two wickets. The previous record was shared by three bowlers Ethan O’Reilly (Highveld Lions of South Africa), Sulieman Benn (Barbados of West Indies), and Shantanu Pitre (Madhya Pardesh of India) as they went for only four runs from their four overs.
Multan Tigers skipper Abdur Rauf won the toss and decided to field first.
Quetta Bears were bowled out for a paltry 72 runs from 17 overs with opener Mohibullah (24 from 14 – 3 fours, 1 six) top-scoring while Arun Lal (10 from 21 – 1 four) and Nazar Hussain (17 from 28 – 2 fours) were the other two batsmen managing scores in double digits.
Multan Tigers opening batsmen Zain Abbas (40 not out from 34 – 5 fours) and Sohaib Maqsood (32 not out from 33 – 5 fours) faced no such demons in the Gaddafi Stadium pitch and easily overhauled the target from 11 overs.
Muhammad Irfan was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant spell of three wickets for eight runs.
Lahore Eagles beat Hyderabad Hawks by 58 runs
In a match which saw two batsmen hitting centuries, Lahore Eagles recorded a comfortable 58 runs victory over Hyderabad Hawks in their Group B encounter of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup 2012 at Lahore City Cricket Association Ground on Saturday.
Lahore Eagles scored massive 224 for two after skipper Taufeeq Umar won the toss and decided to bat first.
Opener Imran Farhat (100 not out from 59 – 12 fours, 2 sixes) mauled the Hyderabad Hawks bowlers while skipper Taufeeq Umar (65 from 53 – 9 fours) also batted exceptionally well as the opening pair amassed 168 runs from 15 overs for the opening wicket.
Azhar Ali (28 from 13 – 2 fours, 2 sixes) also showed some hitting skills before Asif Raza ended the innings in great fashion by hitting the six off the only ball he faced.
The Lahore Eagles were also assisted by some nasty indiscipline bowling by Hyderabad Hawks who bowled as many as 12 no-balls besides bowling eight wides during the innings.
Hyderabad Hawks were already batted out of the competition at halfway stage but opening batsman and skipper Sharjeel Khan (103 not out from 65 – 6 fours, 7 sixes) exhibited his great hard-hitting skills.
In the end, Hyderabad Hawks fell 58 runs short of the target as they could manage 166 for five from their 20 overs.
Junaid Zia and Asif Raza shared two wickets apiece for 20 and 18 runs, respectively from their four overs but it was Imran Farhat who was declared the Man of the Match for his phenomenal hitting.
Sialkot Stallions beat Islamabad Leopards by 8 wickets
Defending champions Sialkot Stallions got their title defence off to mark in astounding fashion on Saturday when they outplayed Islamabad Leopards by eight wickets in their Group A match of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup 2012 at Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore.
Islamabad Leopards, led by fast bowler Umar Gul, scored 122 for nine from their 20 overs after their skipper won the toss and decided to bat first.
Only four Islamabad Leopards batsmen could score in double figures with Bazid Khan (28 from 22 – 4 fours) top-scoring while Shan Masood (24 from 35), Umar Gul (16 from 9 – 1 four, 2 sixes), and Raheel Majeed (15 from 13 – 3 fours) were the other top scorers.
Right arm medium pacer Umaid Asif was on top of his game for the Sialkot Stallions as he captured three wickets for 21 runs while Rana Naved-ul-Hasan grabbed two wickets for 14 runs. Left-arm off-spinner Raza Hasan also bowler miserly as he registered figures of one for 15 while Shoaib Malik also chipped in with one for 18.
123-run target was never going to challenge the batting powerhouse of Sialkot Stallions as openers Imran Nazeer and Shakeel Ansar came out with all guns blazing.
Imran Nazir hit 10 boundaries and a huge six during his 43-ball 65 runs while Shakeel Ansar made 15 from 16 hitting two boundaries.
Haris Sohail (21 not out from 24 – 1 four) and skipper Shoaib Malik (21 not out from 12 – 3 fours, 1 six) then completed the victory with 25 balls to spare as Sialkot Stallions began their quest for yet another domestic T20 title.
Imran Nazir was declared Man of the Match for an explosive show of hard-hitting batting.
Lahore Lions beat Karachi Zebras by 7 wickets
In the last match of the inaugural day of Faysal Bank T20 Cup 2012, the star-studded Lahore Lions mauled an average-looking Karachi Zebras by a comfortable margin of seven wickets with 11 balls to spare at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday.
In a high-temperature Group A encounter, Karachi Zebras captain Rameez Raja Junior won the toss and decided to give his batsmen a chance to set a massive target.
However, the Karachi Zebras innings never got going after losing captain in the 4th over. His fellow opening batsman Rameez Aziz (34 from 31 – 5 fours) and Fahad Iqbal (59 not out from 52 – 5 fours) did try their best to give their side a chance to score a respectable total by both lacked firepower and with Faisal Iqbal (15 from 15 – 1 six) and Sheharyar Ghani (Duck), and Javed Mansoor (4 from 5) all failing to clear the boundary consistently, 141 runs was all the Karachi Zebras could manage.
Bowling was generally good from Lahore Lions bowlers as Abdul Razzaq (2-0-10-0), Aizaz Cheema (4-1-21-2), Mustafa Iqbal (4-0-22-1), and Mohammad Hafeez (3-0-15-1) all bowled miser spells of bowling.
Wahab Riaz (3-0-30-0) and Zia-ul-Haq (4-0-40-1) were the two expensive bowlers for Lahore Lions but still Karachi Zebras couldn’t post a challenging total on the board.
Nasir Jamshed (14 from 9 – 2 fours) and Ahmed Shehzad (24 from 23 – 3 fours, 1 six) gave Lahore Lions a respectable start scoring 35 runs for the opening wicket from just 20 deliveries.
Pakistan’s T20 skipper Mohammad Hafeez, who is also captaining the Lahore Lions, then took things under his control at one-down position and scored 53 runs from just 43 balls with the help of seven boundaries.
Explosive Umar Akmal (43 not out from 28 – 6 fours) also polished his hard-hitting skills and along with his brother Kamran Akmal (4 not out from 6) completed the target from 18.1 overs.
Mohammad Hafeez was declared Man of the Match for his all-round performance.
Sunday's Fixtures in Faysal Bank T20 Cup 2012
Six more matches will be played on Sunday where Lahore Lions will face Abbottabad Falcons in Group A match at 09:30 am; Quetta Bears will look to change their fortunes against Sialkot Stallions in Group A match at 09:30 am; Lahore Eagles will be up against Faisalabad Wolves in Group B match at 12:00pm; Bahawalpur Stags will try to keep their winning run against Peshawar Panthers in Group B encounter at 13:15pm; Islamabad Leopards will play against Karachi Zebras at 13:15 pm; whereas Karachi Dolphins will take on Rawalpindi Rams in a rematch of the T20 2010 final in their Group B match scheduled to start at 16:00 local time.
