Dolphins, Zebras win to keep hopes alive

KARACHI: Karachi Dolphins and Karachi Zebras kept their semi-finals hopes alive by notching off victories over Lahore Eagles and Quetta Bears, respectively, in the Faysal Bank National T20 Cup 2012-13 in Lahore on Tuesday.

Lahore Lions roared to their fourth consecutive triumph, crushing Islamabad Leopards by six wickets. Leopards and Bears are now out of the title contention in the 14-team event as Leopards have lost all their four matches, while Bears have conceded three defeats in three matches.

In a Group B game, Shahid Afridi’s Dolphins chalked up a three-wicket triumph over Taufeeq Umar’s Eagles to stretch their points to four from four meetings at the Gaddafi Stadium.

After passing through tough time, Dolphins were able in the end to race to the 114-run target in 18.4 overs when Anwar Ali hit left-arm spinner Qaiser Ashraf for two consecutive sixes.

Dashing opener Shahzaib Hasan hit valuable run-a-ball 30 with two fours and a six. The right-hander put on 38 runs for the second wicket with Fawad Alam who scored 21-ball 23 with three fours.

Shahid Afridi in the end scored 21-ball 19 and Tanvir Ahmed belted a brisk 10-ball 15 to help the four-time runners-up get close to the target which was ultimately achieved by Anwar Ali who made 14 not out off just five balls.

Raza Ali Dar, who troubled Dolphins with his leg-breakers, captured 3-16, while Asif Reza took 2-16.

Earlier, off-spin pair of Atif Maqbool (3-20) and Misbah Khan (2-12) did a fine job to restrict Eagles to 113-8. Saad Nasim in the end scored 28 off 21 balls with four fours while Test cricketer Azhar Ali contributed 24 with two fours.

Meanwhile, Fahad Iqbal hit 53 not out to propel Zebras to the 126-run target with 14 balls to spare after losing three wickets against Bears who lost their third consecutive game.

Fahad clobbered four fours in his 51-ball knock while opening the innings. Fahad’s elder brother Faisal Iqbal belted 22-ball 27 before being retired hurt while Saeed Bin Nasir made 17-ball 23.

Gohar Faiz took 2-15.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, Bears were restricted to 125-9 with opener Mohibullah scoring fine 44 off 58 balls.

Left-arm spinner Faraz Ahmed took 3-22, off-spinner Haaris Ayaz claimed 3-23 while medium pacer Rumman Raees grabbed 2-32.

Ahmed Shehzad slammed a blistering knock of 56 off 45 balls with seven fours and a six to enable hot favourites Lahore Lions to achieve the 105-run target against Leopards in 14.5 overs after losing four wickets. Zohaib Ahmed took 2-8. Earlier, Test pacers Aizaz Cheema (3-16), Wahab Riaz (3-17) and Adnan Rasool (2-16) did a great job to restrict Leopards to 104-8. Imad Wasim (20) and Faizan Riaz (18) offered a little resistance.

Faisalabad Wolves produced their third consecutive victory when they defeated Rawalpindi Rams by 17 runs, the second loss for the last edition’s runners-up in three games.

Ali Waqas slammed 47-ball 53 and Khurram Shehzad cracked 19-ball 33 to guide Wolves post 148-8 in the stipulated overs.

Sohail Tanvir took 3-23 while Yasir Arafat captured 2-37.

Then pacer Asad Ali took 3-27 and Saeed Ajmal and Khurram Shehzad bagged two wickets apiece to dismiss Rams for 131 in 18.5 overs. Left-hander Umar Amin once again played a glorious innings of 47 of 41 balls, hitting four fours and a six.

Ahmed Jamal took 4-21 in four overs to guide Abbottabad Falcons to their second victory from three games when they defeated Multan Tigers by seven runs in a thrilling encounter.

Chasing 107, Tigers needed ten runs from the last over of Test seamer Junaid Khan but the left-arm pacer bowled tightly to the tail-enders and conceded just two runs, also getting the wicket of Abdur Rauf to finish at 1-15 in four overs.

Earlier, pacer Ahmed Jamal proved to be the main destroyer by bowling with superb tight and length. Jamal was fully supported by left-arm spinner Amjad Waqas who extracted good turn from the deck to finish with 2-15 in four overs.

Naved Yasin (37) and Zulfiqar Babar (15) were the only batsmen to manage double figures.

Earlier, the country’s tallest left-armer Mohammad Irfan (3-17), left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar (2-21) and Kashif Naved (2-18) bowled well to restrict Falcons to 106-8 in the stipulated overs.

Skipper Younis Khan (35) and Khalid Usman (19) were the only batsmen to offer some resistance.

Peshawar Panthers pulled off their first win, beating Hyderabad Hawks by 44 runs. Panthers posted 185-5 with Nawaz Ahmed top-scoring with 53 off 34 balls with nine boundaries.

He added 74 runs for the second wicket with opener Iftikhar Ahmed who belted 26-ball 27 with three fours and a six.

But the real entertaining innings was played by skipper Akber Badshah who remained not out on 24-ball 39 with six fours. Shoaib Khan Senior made 27-ball 30 with three fours.

Azizullah (3-29), Akber Badshah (2-36) and Zohaib Khan (2-23) bowled well to dismiss Hawks for 141. Kashif Bhatti scored 14-ball 25 with three fours and a six. Aqeel Anjum made 21-ball 22.

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