Raza’s seven-for goes in vain, Zeeshan’s blazing fifty takes Southern Punjab to second consecutive in National T20 2nd XI tournament

Karachi: Left-arm-spinner Raza Ali Dar’s astonishing seven-wicket haul went in vain as Central Punjab went down by 19 runs to Northern in the National T20 2^nd XI tournament at the National Stadium, Karachi on Tuesday. In the second match of the day, Southern Punjab recorded a three wicket win over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the back of another match winning innings by opener Zeeshan Ashraf.

In the first match on Tuesday, Northern opted to bat first after winning the toss, pacer Aizaz Cheema took two early wickets to peg Northern back. Faizan Riaz 34 (26 balls, five fours and one six) and Noman Ali 33 (19 balls, three fours and two sixes) brought Northern back in the hunt.

Northern lost their last four wickets for 10 runs including a hat-trick for Raza on the last three balls of the innings. Raza who had already taken four wickets, finished the innings off in style to return remarkable figures of 4-0-29-7 as Northern were dismissed for 162 runs.

Central Punjab were restricted to 143 for nine in reply. Usman Salahuddin top-scored with a 21-ball 27, Mohammad Saad scored 24 while Nauman Anwar contributed 23 runs. Leg-spinner Osama Mir took three, while Raza Hasan and Sadaf Hussain took two wickets each.

Southern Punjab won the toss and opted to bowl against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Nabi Gul’s enterprising 94 off 60 balls laid the foundations of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 197 for six total. Nabi hit 10 fours and three sixes in his innings. Kamran Ghulam scored 23 runs, Muhammad Imran took three wickets.

Southern Punjab chased down the 198-run target in the last over of the match for the loss of seven wickets. Opener Zeeshan Ashraf followed-up on his unbeaten century yesterday with a 26-ball 54 that included four fours and as many sixes. Zain Abbas made 47 runs while Muhammad Mohsin scored a rapid 30 off 17 balls with the help of two fours and two sixes. Khalid Usman took two wickets for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Scores in brief:

Northern v Central Punjab, National Stadium, Karachi

Northern 162 all out, 20 overs ( Faizan Riaz 34, Noman Ali 33; Raza Ali Dar 7-29)

Central Punjab 143 for 9, 20 overs (Usman Salahuddin 27, Muhammad Saad 24; Usama Mir 3-31, Raza Hasan 2-19)

Result: Northern won by 19 runs.

Southern Punjab v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, National Stadium, Karachi

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 197 for 6, 20 overs (Nabi Gul 94, Kamran Ghulam 23; Muhammad Imran 3-22)

Southern Punjab 199 for 7, 19.4 overs (Zeeshan Ashraf 52, Zain Abbas 47; Khalid Usman 2-36)

Result: Southern Punjab won by three wickets