- Scorecards, stats and tournament schedule is available here; Action pictures are available here; please credit @PCB
- Free entry for fans to the Premium enclosures in all matches except the Qualifier and Final; Online tickets available at pcb.tcs.com.pk and physical tickets can be bought from dedicated TCS express centres in Islamabad & Rawalpindi
- The official nomenclature of the tournament is Bahria Town Champions T20 Cup; official hashtag is #DiscoveringChampions; Media houses are requested to use the correct event nomenclature and hashtag in headlines, bulletins and write-ups
Rawalpindi, 20 December 2024: Fast bowler Afaq Afridi rewrote record books with the best bowling figures by a Pakistan bowler on T20 debut and a hat-trick, lifting Nurpur Lions to the top of the Bahria Town Champions T20 Cup with a seven-wicket win over Engro Dolphins at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Friday.
The second last double-header saw ABL Stallions displacing UMT Markhors from the top of the table in the morning game with a clinical 29-run win.
The second match saw Afaq Afridi register the best figures on debut by any Pakistan bowler with 5-18 including a hat-trick to demolish Dolphins for 71 in 16 overs.
Nurpur Lions raced to victory in just nine overs to go top of the five-team table with ten points and a better net run-rate of 1.07. ABL Stallions are now second and UMR Markhors third -- both teams have ten points each but Stallions have a better net run-rate.
Lake City Panthers are fourth, securing six points. The Engro Dolphins have lost all their seven games.
Afaq bettered previous best figures on debut by Zeeshan Khan (5-19) on debut for Multan Tigers against Karachi Zebras at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore in 2005.
Afaq thrilled the crowd by dismissing Faheem Ashraf (three), Mohammad Abbas Afridi (nought) and Shayan Sheikh (nought) off successive deliveries in the 10th over as Dolphins slumped to 38-8.
Fellow pacer Musa Khan also shone with the ball, claiming 4-14.
It was the tenth-wicket stand of 27 between Awais Ali, 15 off 17 balls with a boundary, and Mohammad Rameez Jnr, who scored 11 off 18 balls, that guided Dolphins to a sub-par total of 71 all out in 16 overs.
Opener Waqar Ahmed was the top scorer with a run-a-ball 16.
Nurpur Lions also lost Hasan Nawaz and Sharoon Siraj without scoring to Faheem Ashraf in the first over but Omair Bin Yousuf (30-ball 34 with six fours) and Mohammad Taha (19-ball 28 with four boundaries) saw off the target in nine overs. They shared a third-wicket stand of 66, with Khushdil Shah hitting the winning boundary.
Pacer Mohammad Ali returned figures of 4-13 and Jahandad Khan fetched 3-9 as UMT Markhors failed in the chase of a modest Stallions target of 148 runs with only Saad Masood fighting with a 29-ball 38.
Markhors were finally bowled out for 118 in 18.3 overs.
Markhors lost Fakhar Zaman to Jahandad with the first ball of the second over for one. It started a procession of wickets as Markhors were in tatters at 36-6.
Ali dismissed Mohammad Faizan (seven) and skipper Iftikhar Ahmed (nought) while Jahandad had Mohammad Khawaja Nafay (17) and Abdul Samad without scoring. It became 37-7 when Mohammad Nawaz fell to Usman Tariq for nought.
But Saad cracked two sixes and three boundaries in his knock and added 57 for the eighth wicket with Nisar Ahmed who scored a 21-ball 22 with two sixes. Ali came for his second spell to dismiss Saad and Zahid Mehmood (three) to finish the match.
Earlier, sent into bat, ABL Stallions also found the going tough on a difficult pitch. Shoaib Malik used all his experience to hold the innings with a patient 28-ball 27 which had three boundaries. Taimur Khan and Maaz Sadaqat made 20 each while Mohammad Haris scored 19 as Stallions managed 147-9 in 20 overs.
Jahandad also chipped in with 16 off just nine balls to deservedly earn player of the match award.
For UMT Markhors Akif Javed (2-16), Zahid Mehmood (2-23) and Bilawal Bhatti (2-24) shared the spoils in bowling.
Scores in brief:
Match 17 - ABL Stallions beat UMT Markhors by 29 runs at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
ABL Stallions 147-9, 20 overs (Shoaib Malik 27, Maaz Sadaqat 20, Taimur Khan 20, Mohammad Haris 19; Akif Javed 2-16, Zahid Mehmood 2-23, Bilawal Bhatti 2-24)
UMT Markhors 118 all out in 18.3 overs (Saad Masood 38, Nisar Ahmed 22; Mohammad Ali 4-13, Jahandad Khan 3-9, Usman Tariq 2-9)
Player of the match - Jahandad Khan (ABL Stallions)
Match 18 - Nurpur Lions beat Engro Dolphins by seven wickets at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
Engro Dolphins 71 all out, 16 overs (Waqar Ahmed 16, Awais Ali 15 not out, Mohammad Rameez Jnr 11; Afaq Afridi 5-18, Musa Khan 4-14)
Nurpur Lions 72-3, 9 overs (Omair Bin Yousuf 34, Mohammad Taha 28 not out; Faheem Ashraf 2-20)
Player of the match - Afaq Afridi (Nurpur Lions)
