RAWALPINDI: Golden Pearl-supported Peshawar region team Monday jolted Servis Tyres Islamabad by winning its Cool & Cool Present Jazz National T20 Cup 2016 match by 36 runs here at Pindi Stadium.
Whirlwind knock of Shoaib Maqsood that also earned him players of the match laid a solid footing for Peshawar that got them to 176 for four and later their attack contained Islamabad in limits of 140 runs for five wickets to get a comprehensive win.
Peshawar’s opening wickets produced enough runs to shatter the confidence of the Islamabad bowlers. Rafatullah Mohman 66 and Israrullah 42 did not left any corner of the ground unchecked with their shots by making 76 for the first wicket. And if any place that has been left unmarked, was touched by Sohaib with his tantalizing hits. Rafat smacked nine fours and faced 51 balls while Israr while facing 33 balls hit five fours and two sixes. But the innings produced by Sohaib was much more enticing. He smashed five fours and three sixes while facing just 33 balls and scored 51 runs. A valuable contribution of 13 runs from Fakhar Khan also set the tune of big total. Junaid Khan and Abdul Rahman shared two and one wicket respectively and conceded 39 and 23 runs.
In reply, Islamabad could not get the start they were expecting from their openers Raheel Majeed and Afaq Raheem. Both these players could produce 25 runs for the opening wicket and before heading back to the pavilion, Raheel made 15 balls 21 and Afaq had 32 balls 34. Three fours and one six came off the bat of Raheel while one four and two sixes were hit by Afaq.
Imamul Haq and Adil Amin played well for their team’s reprieve but their innings were not good enough to earn victory for Islamabad. Imam got 34 while Adil had 32. Apart from them none of their batsmen could even broke into double figures. And that containment credit went to Peshawar’s attack led by Imran Khalid and Imran Khan who shared two wickets each while Waqas Maqsood had one.
