RAWALPINDI - September 2, 2015: Bahawalpur, Lahore Blues and Azad Jammu and Kashmir grabbed victories against their respective rivals on day two of the Cool & Cool Present Haier Q8 T20 Cup 2015 being played here at Pindi Stadium on Wednesday.
Bahawalpur edged aside fighting Dera Murad Jamali, Lahore Blues sailed to an easy win over hapless Quetta while Azad Jammu and Kashmir pommeled Larkana by 58 runs.
Brilliant batting from Faisal Mubashir and equally excellent bowling and fielding on his team’s part steered Bahawalpur to a close three runs win against Dera Murad Jamali.
Bahawalpur crawled to 130 runs for six and later Dera Murad Jamali had its highs and lows in their chase to reach 127 runs for seven in 20 overs.
Shahbaz Ali, Nasir Khan and Najeebullah nearly took away the match from Bahawalpur had the winning team not made inroads at crucial moments, otherwise the situation would have been different.
Faisal who remained unbeaten at 66 came in to hold the fort for Bahawalpur when their key players and opening batsmen Shahan Akram and Mohamamd Yasir were back in the pavilion. Bahawalpur opening was broken in the sixth over for 23 runs when Shahan reached 15 runs and later Yasir could only add 21 runs to the total. Faisal, however, kept his cool and also maintained aggression to reach 66 runs in 42 balls, hammering seven fours. He watched five of his team-mates march back to the dressing room, until Waqas Khan joined him to lift the total from 95 for six to 130. Zahoor Ahmed and Imran Khan started the damage in the initial stage, which was later increased by Nasir Khan in the middle overs. As Zahoor had one wicket, Imran and Nasir shared two each.
In their chase, Dera Murad Jamali responded well and their batsmen in Shazaib, Nasir and Najeeb sent chills in the Bahawalpur spine. Nasir and Najeeb shared 33 runs each while Shahzaib made 32. A regrouped Bahawalpur team relied heavily on their bowlers Mohammad Imran, Moinuddin, Faisal Mubashir and Kamran Hussain, who bowled four of their batsmen and run out three others to keep Dera Murad Jamali from reaching the target. Imran took two wickets with one run out while Moin and Kamran shared one wicket each. Faisal for his batting performance and a run out of Dera Murad Jamali’s Nasir Khan won the player of the match award.
Lahore Blues overhauled the score of 100 runs of Quetta, reaching the required target for the loss of just one wicket in 14 overs. Adnan Akmal was the only Lahore bat sent back to the dressing room for obstructing the field for his personal score of 12 and team’s 47. Otherwise, opener Imamul Haq with his fluent half century paved the way for a comprehensive win.
Imam, who took 41 balls to reach his 57 that was studded with six boundaries, found a useful partner in Sami Aslam.
Pace bowlers Ataullah and Salman Agha kept a tight leash to leave Quetta batting in total disarray in the second match of the day that Lahore Blues took away with little trouble. As Ata jolted the upper order of Quetta and Salman ripped apart their middle. Raza Ali Dar played his part to shake the lower half. Ata and Salman had three wickets each while Raza had two and Qaiser Ashraf took one.
Troubled Quetta had Arun Lal (24), Jalat Khan 17, and Gohar Fiaz (16) for a little while to reach double figures otherwise the entire batting lineup crumbled in 19.1 overs.
AJK team made quick work of Larkana in the final match of the day with a 58 runs win. AJK’s middle order batsman Hasan Raza cracked a half century to lift his team’s total to 123 that came for the loss of eight wickets. Though Larkana had an early breakthrough but Hasan and Naveed Malik took the score from 17 for two to 64 for three. Naveed, who was Imran Chandio’s victim, made 21 runs. Hasan then found another partner in Iqbal Akram (21), who remained not out. Before Hasan departed back, he made his 50 in 46 balls and also timed five boundaries.
Requiring just over six runs an over, Larkana team wilted right from the start and the whole team was back in the pavilion in 13.4 overs. Ayaz Jamali and Asif Babar could make 16 and 15 runs respectively in their team’s 65 in an otherwise spineless reply from Larkana.
AJK spinner in his 1.3 overs took three wickets giving away nine runs and before him Naqash Basharat and Irfan Talib took two wickets each while Saad Altaf and Salman Arshad shared one wicket apiece.
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