Southern secure Punjab derby to remain in the chase

LAHORE: Southern Punjab truly mean business in the second leg of the Nation T20 Cup in Lahore where they are back in the semi-last race. 

Scarcely 18 hours in the wake of chalking up their first success in the opposition karma has finally begun to favor them as they fixed the Punjab derby against the prevalent Central side on Thursday. 

While Zia-u-Haq and Tayyab Tahir were the unrecognized stars at the Gaddafi Stadium, Twenty20 World Cup wannabe Khushdil Shah at long last hit structure with a commendable innings. The left-hander had the fulfillment of striking the triumphant run — a fresh roll over mid-off to the fence when pacer Waqas Maqsood, getting back to the side subsequent to missing a few games, blundered long — to complete on 51 off 36 balls (eight limits). 

Southern Punjab have a glad history of pursuing down tall sums since this competition was redone in 2019. However, here they were given a sensible 155-run target. 

Also, regardless of losing Zeeshan Ashraf and Salman Ali Agha — the designer behind that marvelous pursue against Northern on Wednesday night — inside the initial three overs, Southern Punjab were consistently on target. 

Tayyab, the 28-year-old right-hander from Gujrat, stamped only his fourth T20 appearance with very much built thump prior to being excused when just three runs were required. The sign of his batting was the manner in which he punctured the field with appealing shots on the two sides of the field. 

Tayyab died to a catch down the leg side to Wahab Riaz in the wake of enhancing his most noteworthy T20 score of 68 from 52 balls with eight fours and a support of sixes, subsequent to having shared an amazing organization of 92 with Khushdil. 

Mohammad Imran Randhawa likewise made significant commitments with both bat and ball. In the wake of returning extraordinary examination of 2-24 with his seamers, the all-rounder whipped three limits and a pulled six off sluggish left-armer spinner Zafar Gohar — who at long last got a game instead of the refreshed Usman Qadir — in a blustery 17-ball thump of 24. 

With the Pakistan crew individuals planning to enter the compulsory ICC World Cup bubble on Friday, Central Punjab painfully missed their customary captain Babar Azam as the Pakistan skipper selected to pass on his subsequent straight match. 

Focal Punjab, sent into bat by Aamir Yamin, were in a bad way from the opening over, the fourth bundle of which discovered Kamran Akmal caught in front for a duck by Aamir. Mohammad Akhlaq didn't keep going long either when his off stump was shaken by Naseem Shah. Aamir then, at that point, struck again to dispose of Saif Badar. 

Hussain Talat and Shoaib Malik fixed the early harm by sewing together an association of 92 preceding Zia set off one more breakdown by snatching four of the last six wickets to succumb to the expansion of only 32 runs. 

Zia — the 26-year-old left-arm pacer who whenever was bound to play topflight worldwide cricket subsequent to showing massive guarantee at the lesser level — asserted the valued scalp of Malik for a 24-ball 26 after the ex-Pakistan skipper had become just the third player to outperform the 11,000-run mark in the T20 design. 

Hussain indeed examined incredible touch as the left-hander struck six fours and three sixes in a 47-ball 68 preceding giving Khushdil one of his three gets in the outfield. 

In the mean time, the Covid-stricken Balochistan were back in real life after their installation against Northern on Wednesday was rescheduled to Saturday after four players announced positive. They were in real life against holders Khyber Pakhtunkhwa when this report was being documented. 

Scoreboard 

Focal PUNJAB: 

Kamran Akmal lbw b Aamir 0 

Mohammad Akhlaq b Naseem 7 

Hussain Talat c Khushdil b Imran 68 

Saif Badar c Zia b Aamir 11 

Shoaib Malik c Khushdil b Zia 26 

Qasim Akram c Hassaan b Zia 0 

Faheem Ashraf lbw b Zia 3 

Hasan Ali b Imran 11 

Wahab Riaz c Khushdil b Zia 4 

Zafar Gohar not out 8 

Waqas Maqsood not out 5 

Additional items (LB-1, W-8, NB-2) 11 

Complete (for nine wkts, 20 overs) 154 

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-11, 3-30, 4-122, 5-122, 6-124, 7-137, 8-137, 9-144. 

BOWLING: Aamir Yamin 4-0-22-2 (1nb); Naseem Shah 4-0-27-1 (1nb); Zia-ul-Haq 4-0-40-4 (2w); Salman Ali Agha 1-0-8-0 (2w); Umar Khan 2-0-17-0; Hassaan Khan 1-0-15-0; Mohammad Imran Randhawa 4-0-24-2. 

SOUTHERN PUNJAB: 

Zeeshan Ashraf c Kamran b Waqas 3 

Tayyab Tahir c Wahab b Waqas 68 

Salman Ali Agha c Malik b Faheem 1 

M. Imran Randhawa c Hasan b Zafar 24 

Khushdil Shah not out 51 

Aamir Yamin not out 1 

Additional items (LB-2, W-7) 9 

Complete (for four wkts, 19 overs) 157 

FALL OF WKTS: 1-15, 2-18, 3-60, 4-152. 

Didn't BAT: Azam Khan, Hassaan Khan, Zia-ul-Haq, Naseem Shah, Umar Khan. 

BOWLING: Faheem Ashraf 4-0-35-1 (4w); Waqas Maqsood 4-0-42-2 (1w); Hasan Ali 4-0-39-0 (1w); Wahab Riaz 4-0-18-0; Zafar Gohar 2-0-15-1; Hussain Talat 1-0-6-0. 

RESULT: Southern Punjab won by six wickets. 

UMPIRES: Rashid Riaz and Zameer Haider. 

Television UMPIRE: Asif Yaqoob. 

MATCH REFEREE: Mohammad Javed. 

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Tayyab Tahir (Southern Punjab). 

FRIDAY'S FIXTURES: Central Punjab versus Northern (3:00pm PST); Southern Punjab versus Sindh (7:30pm PST).