National T20 Cup: Central Punjab defeats Sindh | 2nd Semi-Final

National T20 Cup: Central Punjab defeated Sindh by 7 wickets in the 2nd semi-final of the National T20 Cup played at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

Central Punjab produced a commanding performance to book their spot in the finals with a one-sided victory over Sindh.

Central Punjab will take on defending champions Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in their first National T20 final since the tournament was revamped.

On Tuesday night, seasoned campaigners Ahmed Shehzad and Kamran Akmal spearheaded the 142 runs chase with an almost flawless batting that left the Sindh bowlers clueless.

Kamran registered the 44th T20 half-century of his career while Ahmed fell one short of his 40th T20 half-century. The two added 88 runs for the second wicket. Kamran scored 51 off 36 (7 boundaries, 1 six) and dismissed by spinner Abrar Ahmed in the 14th over.

Ahmed dismissed by Sohail Khan for 49 off 46 (4 boundaries). The pair of Hussain Talat (13 not out) and Qasim Akram (11 not out) took Central Punjab past the target with 13 balls to spare.

Earlier, Sindh got off to a flying start as openers Sharjeel Khan and Khurram Manzoor added 50 in 6.2 overs. Central Punjab’s Qasim got rid of Sharjeel for 32 off 19 (5 boundaries, 1 six).

Sindh crashed from 50 for no loss to 87 for 5 as Qasim and left-arm-spinner Zafar Gohar ran through the middle-order with their probing spin bowling.

After dismissing Sharjeel, Qasim got rid of Saud Shakeel (7) and Danish Aziz (0). Zafar dismissed Shan Masood (1) and Khurram who was Sindh’s top-scorer with 34 off 40 (3 boundaries).

Pacer Sohail who was promoted to number 5 in the batting order contributed 21 but Sindh never fully recovered from their batting slump and finished well short of a competitive total.

They reached 141 courtesy of some big hits by tail-enders Mir Hamza remained not out 19 off 9 (1 boundary, 2 sixes) and Rumman Raees 14.

Qasim finished with 3 for 15 in 4 overs, while Zafar took 2 for 15 in 4 overs. Wahab took 2 for 30.

Sindh 141 for 8, 20 overs (Khurram Manzoor 34, Sharjeel Khan 32; Qasim Akram 3-15, Zafar Gohar 2-15, Wahab Riaz 2-30)

Central Punjab 145 for 3, 17.5 overs (Kamran Akmal 51, Ahmed Shehzad 49; Sohail Khan 1-24)

Player of the match:  Qasim Akram

Wednesday’s match:

Final –Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Home City Central Punjab -7:30 pm.