FAISALABAD: Opener Mohammad Faiq struck a magnificent century to help Lahore Region Whites to a massive 134-run win against Larkana Region in their National T20 Cup group match at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad on Monday.
Faiq, who brought up his second T20 century in just fourth game, came out all guns blazing as he notched his half-century off just 20 balls, the fastest in the ongoing edition of the tournament. He hit 13 fours and seven sixes in the 56-ball outing and brought up his century with a maximum, off fifty balls.
Valuable contributions from Mohammad Akhlaq (35 off 26 balls) and skipper Tayyab Tahir (33 off 16) helped Lahore Whites post a huge 215-4 in the stipulated 20 overs after electing to bat first in the Group ‘A’ match.
In reply, Larkana lost wickets at regular intervals as they crumbled to 32-7 before eventually getting bowled out for a paltry 81 in 17.5 overs with left-arm spinner Kamran Afzal taking four wickets for 17.
Faiq was declared player-of-the-match.
In another Group ‘A’ game played at the Iqbal Stadium, spinner Mohammad Asghar’s four-wicket haul and captain Rameez Aziz’s belligerent half-century steered Karachi Region Blues to a seven-wicket triumph over Quetta Region.
Quetta succumbed to the loss as their opponents chased the 139-run target in 16.4 overs.
After being sent in to bat, Quetta posted a modest 138-9 off the allotted overs.
Haseebullah top-scored with a 42-ball 46 studded with six fours. Asghar starred with figures of 4-19.
In reply, Karachi Blues slipped to 52-3 before Rameez (56 not out, 30, five fours, four sixes) and Saifullah Bangash (36 not out off 26, four fours) stitched an unbeaten 88-run partnership to take their team home with 20 balls to spare. Opener Abdullah Fazal contributed a 29-ball 40 laced with seven fours.
Rameez was named man-of-the-match.
Maaz Khan’s four wickets and opener Mohammad Farooq’s rapid half-century led Fata Region to a four-wicket win over Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Region at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
After electing to bat first, AJK posted 149 all out in 20 overs in the Group ‘D’ game.
Openers Hasnain Nadeem (53 off 29) and Hasan Raza (33 off 30) gave AJK a solid 86-run start before they started losing wickets regularly. Maaz returned outstanding figures of 4-11 in four overs while Azaz Khan picked up three.
In turn, Farooq, who was later named player-of-the-match, struck 51 off 26 balls with the help of six fours and two sixes. Farooq partnering fellow opener Mohammad Naeem (30 off 20) gave Fata a 76-run start before they crumbled to 98-4 and then to 133-6. However, Shahid Aziz (19 not out) and Mohammad Usman (14 not out) got them home in 17.1 overs.
Sialkot Region began their campaign in the tournament on a winning note when they defeated Multan by three wickets in another Group ‘D’ match played at the Gaddafi Stadium.
Number three batter Abdullah Shafique struck a valuable half-century (57 off 41, five fours, two sixes) while captain Shoaib Malik struck 43 off 33 as Sialkot reached the 148-run target with just three balls to spare.
Malik hit five fours and one six. For Multan, Mohammad Ismail’s impressive effort of 4-22 went in vain.
Earlier after being asked to bat, Multan totalled 147-8 thanks to Mohammad Shahzad’s half-century (55 off 42, seven fours and one six) and captain Imam-ul-Haq’s 33-ball 41.
Sialkot pacers Hasan Ali (3-38), Ali Raza (2-23) and Bilawal Bhatti (1-25 off three overs) and leg-spinner Usama Mir (1-24) were among the wicket-takers. Abdullah was declared player-of-the-match.
Published in Dawn, March 19th, 2025
