Wahab Riaz took five wickets while young wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Haris posted his first T20 half-century, but their combined effort was in vain when Northern won the 29th game of the T20 National Cup for First XI teams, which was played at First XI Teams played, an exciting 11 runs over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi on Friday afternoon.
NOR v KP | Pakistan National T20 Cup 2020 Match 29 Highlights
Northern finished the league stage at the top of the table with six team points with 16 points from 10 games (eight wins, two losses). Tomorrow they will face the fourth-placed team in the first semi-final of the tournament. Your opponents will be determined tonight at the end of the clash between southern Punjab and Balochistan.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa needed 21 runs in the final, which the veteran Sohail Tanvir had thrown over, they could only do nine runs.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa got his chase off to a positive start with 145 runs as openers Fakhar Zaman and Haris added 48 runs in 7.2 overs. Fakhar was bowled for 11 by Musa Khan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa captain Mohammad Rizwan was sacked by his counterpart Imad Wasim for nine. Imad took another large wicket when sending the veteran Shoaib Malik back for six runs.
Iftikhar Ahmed was sacked by Pacer Haris Rauf for 10 runs. Musadiq Ahmed, Wahab Riaz and Asif Afridi also fell cheaply in pursuit of fast runs as demand for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continued to rise.
Haris, who represented Pakistan at the ICC U19 World Cricket Championship earlier this year, scored an unbeaten 79, interrupted with nine fours and a six. The right-hander, who only appeared in his third T20 match, showed glimpses of his talent, pedigree and range of fire in his innings that held Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s innings together. Despite his heroic efforts, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa failed to cross the border.
Man-of-the-Match Haris Rauf took three more wickets to increase his tournament record to 17 wickets. This was his third tournament man-of-the-match award. Imad took two wickets for 25 runs.
Man Of The Match Haris Rauf Said:
“I want to thank the Almighty first. I was able to roll well throughout the event. I have tried bowls according to the pitches in both Multan and Rawalpindi and I am glad I achieved sustained success. I tried rolling some variations today as the pitch offered something to the bowlers. I hope to continue my bowling form in the upcoming games. “
Northern won the litter and decided to hit first. The decision failed when Northern lost its first six wickets in 15.5 overs with only 99 runs on the board. Ali Inran (8), Zeeshan Malik (21) and Haider Ali (7) could not impress. Wahab Riaz dismissed Imran and Haider in a fiery opening blow.
Wicketkeeper batsman Rohail Nazir also had a bad trip with the bat when he fell for six, while birthday boy Umar Amin made 21 out of 23 balls before falling to Asif Afridi.
Asif Ali was sacked by Wahab for 19 balls out of 22 (two fours). Imad was playing a captain’s innings at the time to help his team to a competitive result. The left-handed player hit six fours in his 36, which dropped 20 balls.
Northern was limited to 144 for nine in its 20 overs, with Wahab returning brilliant numbers of five for 21. This was the third five-wicket move in the veteran left’s 261-match T20 career.