Bureau Report
Multan: Mohammad Hafeez’s 72* and Shaheen Shah Afridi’s five-wicket haul have guided Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to yet another win in National T20 Cup.
Veteran Hafeez batted at a strike-rate 171.43 which included four sixes and as many fours. He was highly supported by Fakhar Zaman and Iftikhar Ahmed in the 11th match of the tournament.
KP, opting to bowl first, put Sindh on the backfoot by removing their three batsmen inside the powerplay. However, Sharjeel Khan’s fire show of 90 helped Sindh to post 183/7. It was Sharjeel’s second fifty of the tournament. His inning included half a dozen sixes and seven fours.
Ahsan Ali also batted sensibly and scored 42 off 32 balls with the help of five fours and a six. Sharjeel and Ahsan and added a 111-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Meanwhile, Shaheen claimed his third fifer in the last matches. He finished with figures of 5-21. The 20-year-old removed Khurram Manzoor (17), Sharjeel, Azam Khan (3), Anwar Ali (12), and Sohail Khan (0). Wahab Riaz and Asif Afridi claimed a wicket each.
KP lost their captain Mohammad Rizwan early in the piece, although it didn’t cost much as Fakhar and Hafeez partnered to add a 100-run stand for the second wicket. Fakhar scored 61 with the help of six fours and two sixes.
Hafeez equaled the record of the fastest fifty of the ongoing tournament in 22 balls. Hafeez was later joined by Iftikhar Ahmed who once again played a high-quality knock, smashing 21-balls 40 and taking his side to win in the 19th over. It is KP’s third consecutive win while Sarfaraz Ahmed led Sindh has now lost two in a row.
