Sindh beat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by two wickets
A great 47-ball 72 from Danish Aziz helped Sindh to come out on top in a thriller against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Sarafarz’s men needed 15 off the last three balls and five of the last to keep their semi-finals hopes alive. Danish Aziz launched Iftikhar Ahmed for a six on the last ball of the game to chase down 139.
Sindh were in tatters at 32 for 4 when Danish Aziz came out to bat and saw his side further slip to 34 for 7. Anwar Ali and Danish resurrected the innings with a brilliant 77-run partnership against a quality Pakhtunkhwa bowling attack. Anwar got out on 33 courtesy a brilliant diving catch from captain Muhammad Rizwan.
In the first innings Pakhtunkhwa were held back to a low score courtesy Sohail Khan’s brilliance. He removed in form Fakhar Zaman who has been giving fast starts to KP. Sohail finished his spell with 2 for 12 in four overs. Overall, the whole bowling effort was great from Sindh as all them picked up wickets. KPK’s top order failed miserably. Partnership of 30 between Shaheen Shah and Usman Shinwari was handy in reaching 139. Shinwari top scored with 36 off 15 balls.
It was a perfect start for KPK with the ball. Shaheen and Shinwari provided the ultimate burst with the new ball as they reduced Sindh to 34 for 7. Shinwari finished with figures of 4-0-20-3 but an unforgettable knock by Danish Aziz rescued Sindh.
South Punjab beat Central Punjab by 3 runs
In the evening game, Southern Punjab edged out a narrow three run win and kept their hopes of qualification alive. The momentum swung both ways and the match went to last over where Punjab needed 12 to win and fell short by 3 runs courtesy a brilliant over from Muhammad Abbas.
Earlier, Central Punjab got off to a shocking start, losing in form Babar Azam for a golden duck. Kamran Akmal and Abdullah Shafique steadied the ship and put on a 43-run partnership, but when both fell quickly, they needed to rebuild again.
Muhammad Akhlaq scored 30 off 18 while Rizwan made 29 off 27 knitted a good partnership but it was Faheem Ashraf who smashed 54 off 22 and sprung life in to the game.
Put into bat first, Southern Punjab captain led from the front and made a solid half-century. Hussain Talat batting at three knitted a brilliant 59 off 36. Sohaib Maqsood looked in good touch and made a quick fire 25 off 12.
