Multan: Bowlers of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) bowled out Central Punjab (CP) for 149 and won the fourth consecutive match for their team by 29 runs in National T20 Cup.
Set to chase 179 runs, CP lost Abid Ali earlier for just 7 runs which put pressure on the chasing side. But, Kamran Akmal (47) and Abdullah Shafiq (43) rescued their team and scored 92 runs together.
Shoaib Malik bagged Akmal in 12th over to make a comeback in the match and his wicket was followed by a collapse in CP’s batting line. Abdullah got out in 14th over and then no batsman was able to stay at the crease for longer.
Rizwan Hussain and Saad Nasim scored 12 runs each.
Asif Afridi, Arshad Iqbal, Junaid Khan, and Wahab Riaz bagged two wickets each for KP. Iftikhar Ahmed and Malik shared a wicket apiece.
Earlier, Fakhar Zaman with his powerful inning of 66 runs drove KP to 178 runs for the loss of seven wickets. He smashed three boundaries and five sixes during his stay at the crease.
Mohammad Rizwan scored 23 off 14 while Shoaib Malik struck 27 runs with the help of three boundaries. Asif Afridi scored quick 20 runs off 7 deliveries to further strengthen KP’s total.
For CP, Ahmed Bashir bagged three wickets while Usman Qadir, Qasim Akram, Ehsan Adil, and Zafar Gohar bagged a wicket each.
