Afridi sizzles as Dolphins slay Panthers

KARACHI: Shahid Afridi showed national selectors on Saturday that he is still the best when he cracked a splendid half century to guide Karachi Dolphins to a 40-run win over Peshawar Panthers in their Group B opener of the Faysal Bank National T20 Cup 2012-13 at the LCCA Ground in Lahore.
The flamboyant all-rounder, who had a poor T20 World Championship, slammed 50 off 38 balls with four fours and a six before being run out to help the four-time runners-up Dolphins post a decent total of 164-7 in the stipulated 20 overs. Panthers in reply were all out for only 124 in 19.2 overs.

After losing Khurram Manzoor on a first-ball duck off left-arm pacer Waqar Ahmed, it was the dashing Shahzaib Hasan who set the tone for Dolphins with a blistering 33 off just 14 deliveries, hitting four sixes and two fours. Shazaib put on 49 runs off just 25 balls for the second wicket association with Khalid Latif who belted 13-ball 18 with two fours and a six. After losing a few quick wickets at this stage, it was Afridi who took the responsibility of steering his team to a comfortable total as he added valuable 46 runs off 45 balls with Asad Shafiq (21) for the fifth wicket and then put on 33 runs off 24 balls for the seventh wicket stand with Anwar Ali who smashed 27 of 18 balls with two fours and a six to guide Dolphins to a decent total.

Waqar was the most impressive bowler, picking 2-28 while medium pacer Azizullah grabbed 2-33.

In reply, Panthers, who looked weak after the defection of Test pacer Umar Gul — currently leading Islamabad Leopards — fell well behind their target.

Iftikhar Ahmed played a gutsy 57 off 47 balls with four fours and two sixes. He put on 66 runs for the fifth wicket with skipper Akber Badshah (32) to rescue Panthers from utter humiliation as they were at one stage 20-4. Akber hit two fours in his 30-ball innings.

Anwar Ali also excelled with the ball, picking 2-24 while Mohammad Sami, Misbah Khan, Afridi and Sohail Khan shared one wicket each.

Meanwhile, Lahore Eagles overwhelmed Hyderabad Hawks by 58 runs at the LCCA Ground. Imran Farhat struck 100 off just 53 balls with 12 fours and two sixes to guide Eagles post a huge total of 224-2 after opting to bat first. The left-hander added 168 runs for the opening stand with skipper Taufeeq Umar who cracked 53-ball 65 with nine boundaries.

Hyderabad Hawks were then restricted to 166-5 in the stipulated overs. Opener Sharjeel Khan played his career-best explosive innings of 103 off 66 balls, hitting eight sixes and five boundaries. Junaid Zia and Asif Raza shared two wickets each.

Lahore Lions, one of the top title contenders, defeated Karachi Zebras by seven wickets in their Group A meeting at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Under floodlights, Lions chased down the 142-run target in 18.1 overs. Pakistan’s T20 captain Mohammad Hafeez (53) and Umar Akmal (43 not out) added 67 runs from 43 balls for the third wicket after losing Nasir Jamshed (14) and Ahmed Shehzad (24).

Earlier, Zebras were restricted to 141-6. Fahad Iqbal hit 59 not out off 52 balls with five fours. Opener Ramiz Aziz made 31-ball 34 with five fours. Test pacer Aizaz Cheema took 2-21.

In another Group B game, Bahawalpur Stags had an impressive debut when they surprised the last edition’s runners-up Rawalpindi Rams by 19 runs. Veteran first-class cricketer Imranullah Aslam slammed a brilliant 89 off 53 deliveries to single-handedly guide Stags to pile up a fighting 173-5. The 32-year old batter cracked 12 fours and two sixes in his superb knock. Left-arm spinner Samiullah took 2-27 while Shoail Tanvir, Hammad Azam and Umar Amin shared one wicket each.

In reply, Rams were restricted to 154-9 with Naved Malik scoring fiery 51 off just 22 balls with nine fours and a six. Jamal Anwar (27) and Yasir Arafat (27 not out) in the end added 53 runs off 37 balls for the ninth wicket association. Kashif Siddiq took 3-22 with his leg breakers while Attaullah claimed 2-19.

In a group A clash, holders Sialkot Stallions, powered by Imran Nazir’s splendid half century, beat Islamabad Leopards by eight wickets.

Imran smashed 43-ball 65 with ten fours and a six to enable Stallions chase the 123-run target in 15.5 overs at the Bagh-e-Jinnah Ground. Skipper Shoaib Malik scored 12-ball 21 not out with three fours and a six while Haris Sohail also remained undefeated on 24-ball 21.

Earlier, Islamabad Leopards perished for 122-9. Test discard Bazid Khan belted 22-ball 28 with four fours while Shan Masood made 24. Pacer Umaid Asif took 3-21 while Rana Naved-ul-Hasan picked 2-14.

Multan Tigers crushed Quetta Bears by ten wickets in their Group A clash at the Gaddafi Stadium. Bears were bowled out for only 72 in17 overs with Mohibullah top-scoring 24.

Left-arm pacer Mohammad Irfan took 3-8 while Test fast bowler Abdur Rauf and the President Trophy’s leading wicket-taker Zulfiqar Babar took two wickets apiece. Tigers chased the required target in 11 overs without losing any wicket.

Zain Abbas cracked 40 not out with five fours while Sohaib Maqsood scored 32 not out with five hits to the fence.

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