RAWALPINDI: Imran Khan Snr led the bowling attack with four wickets against Central Punjab (CP) to power the defending champions Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) to their maiden victory in the recently-commenced National T20 Cup 2022. Set to chase 166 in 20 overs, CP fell 16 runs short in the end, and finished at 147/9 in 19.1 overs as their captain Faheem Ashraf remained unavailable to bat due to an injury.

The side were off to a dismal start to their run chase as they lost two wickets for a mere 33 in five overs. Tayyab Tahir and Qasim Akram then anchored the innings with an important 57-run partnership for the third wicket. The pair appeared solid and was looking to take the game into CP’s favour before Arshad Iqbal castled Qasim in the 12th over. The right-handed batter scored a run-a-ball 15. Following the breakthrough, CP ran into a frustrating lower-order collapse and as a result, slipped to 147/8 in 19 overs with their top-scorer Tayyab being the latest casualty. He scored a brilliant 72 off 45 deliveries, laced with five boundaries and three sixes.

CP captain Faheem, who sustained an injury while bowling in the first inning could not bat in the run chase forcing the side to finish at 147/9 with five balls to spare. Imran Snr was the pick of the bowlers for KPK as he returned with match-winning bowling figures of 4-27, while Asif Afridi and Mohammad Imran bagged two wickets each. Arshad, on the other hand, made a timely scalp.

Published in The Daily National Courier, September, 01 2022

Like Business on Facebook, follow @DailyNCourier on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.