Rawalpindi stadium become paradise for the batsmen, High Quality Cricket Action in National T20 Cup continues to enthral the fans as the high scoring match, Khushdil, Khurram Manzoor centuries ,Danish Aziz upstages Babar Azam in National T20 Cup,

Rawalpindi stadium  become paradise for the batsmen, High Quality Cricket Action in National T20 Cup continues to enthral the fans as the high scoring match, Khushdil, Khurram Manzoor centuries ,Danish Aziz upstages Babar Azam in National T20 Cup,

 By; Asghar Ali Mubarak

 Rawalpindi: The high quality cricket action in the ongoing National T20 Cup continues to enthral the fans as the high scoring matchs.The game between Southern Punjab and Sindh at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, on other day of the second-leg of the tournament, saw record-books rewritten. As many as 433 runs were scored on the back of 21 sixes and 40 fours in a contest in which the record for the fastest T20 century by a Pakistan batsman was made in the second highest successful run-chase ever in the history of the National T20 Cup. Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is an international standard cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. This stadium has recently been expanded to cater to the ever-increasing number of spectators for the game. As was the case in Multan, crowd are not allowed at Rawalpindi Stadium and those performing official duties would making their way in without interacting with the ‘bio-secure bubble’. Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium hosted its first Test match in 1993. Test cricket returned back to Pakistan in Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in a 2 match test series against Sri Lanka. The 1st test match was held from 11 December-15 December 2019 in Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The recently concluded Multan leg of the National T20 Cup was a batting paradise but a bowlers’ nightmare, and the Rawalpindi leg has no different so for .Since it is T20 cricket, we observed that the pitches are suitable for stroke players. The stadium will also host three T20 internationals against Zimbabwe after National T20 Cup.

 Over the course of the match, the fans were treated with some exceptional power-hitting .That Sindh posted a daunting 216 for three was because of a blazing 58-ball 108 by Khurram Manzoor, who embellished the first innings of the match with his six sixes and 10 fours. Southern Punjab, in search of change of fortunes hoped for an extraordinary batting display from their batsmen, as they headed towards what would have been their fifth defeat in as many matches. They were saved by Khushdil Shah, whose spectacular 36-ball 100 provided Southern Punjab a most unexpected victory considering their state in the match.The 25-year-old smoked nine sixes and eight fours to register his first triple-digit score in just 35 balls and set a record for the fastest century in the format by a Pakistan batsman, which was previously held by Ahmed Shehzad, who had scored a century from 40 balls in a Bangladesh Premier League match in 2012.Khushdil, who made his Pakistan debut in last November at Perth in a T20I against Australia, told PCB digital: “This knock has provided me a lot of confidence and my aim is to build on this innings. I am a natural power-hitter and the experience of spending time with men’s national team in England helped me to learn a lot more about batting. The coaches worked a great deal on me and I used to stay in ground with them from sunrise to sunset.”Khushdil arrived at the crease with his side struggling at three for 32 in five overs, but that did not deter the Bannu-born from expressing himself. He started to deal in boundaries from the third ball he faced as he dispatched Mir Hamza for back-to-back fours.“My favourite shots are the ones which bring me my first boundaries in an innings as they provide me confidence to build an innings,” he said. “I try to learn from the best in business and adopt their practice routines. I used to watch David Miller and then I saw Eoin Morgan in England on how he constructs his innings.”Khurram is amongst the many admirers Khushdil has earned.“It was a wonderful innings,” Khurram told PCB Digital. “I have very rarely seen such innings. Shahid Afridi had scored a century off 37 balls. I saw Khushdil’s innings unfold in front of my eyes at the ground yesterday. He turned the match around on his own and changed the game completely.”In the National T20 Cup for First XIs, the 34-year-old Khurram leads the batting charts with 253 runs at an average of 50.60. He has a century and two half-centuries from five innings in the tournament and is the leading run-getter in the National T20 Cup history.

 Reflecting on what was his fourth T20 century, Khurram said: “We had lost the toss and were asked to bat. With the teams able to chase big scores, my plan was to score as much runs as possible for my team by putting up a strong partnership with Asad Shafiq, who provided a great support.“With the moisture in the pitch, there were some problems early on. I stuck with what I have learned throughout my career which is, attack is the best defence. I enjoy paddle sweeping the fast bowlers as it is a difficult shot to execute. But, I enjoy that challenge.”  

Khurram is hopeful that unlike last year, Sindh will be able to secure a semi-final berth in this edition.“I am hopeful that we will progress to the semi-finals as we still have five matches. We need to play good quality cricket and field well.” More over Sindh have been fined PKR25,000 for maintaining a slow over-rate during their Friday’s National T20 Cup fixture against Southern Punjab.In the stipulated time, Sindh were two overs short of their target after taking into account time allowances and, as such, were charged under Article 2.22 of the PCB’s Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel that deals with minimum over-rate offences.The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Ghaffar Kazmi and Rashid Riaz, third umpire Asif Yaqoob and fourth umpire Saqib Khan.Sindh captain Sarfaraz Ahmed pleaded guilty and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Nadeem Arshad.  Mean while Central Punjab fast bowler Naseem Shah has been withdrawn from the National T20 Cup after complaining of a niggle in groin.He has been replaced in the Central Punjab squad by left-arm fast bowler Waqas Maqsood.Naseem will now report at the National High Performance Centre in Lahore where the PCB medical panel will carry out a detailed and complete investigation on his injury.Director – Medical and Sports Sciences, Dr Sohail Saleem: “Naseem is an asset who needs to be handled with care. As soon as he showed discomfort, we decided to withdraw him from the tournament and bring him to Lahore so that we can investigate the injury.”

More over the  former Pakistani U19 batsman Danish Aziz saved Sindh’s blushes with a half-century that also overshadowed Central Punjab’s Babar Azam’s second successive half-century and spirited bowling performance from Waqas Ahmed in the 18th match of the PKR9million National T20 Cup at the Pindi Cricket Stadium Rawalpindi.

 Danish clubbed five fours and three sixes in a 32-ball 59 not out as Sindh, chasing 171 for victory and after slipping to 16 for two and then 53 for four, romped to victory with three wickets and five balls to spare.

Danish had walked out to bat after Khurram Manzoor (6), Sharjeel Khan (6), Sarfaraz Ahmed (10) and Asad Shafiq (11) had returned to the hut. He added 44 runs for the fifth wicket with Azam Khan, who dominated the stand with a 23-ball 32.

The 24-year-old then put on 57 crucial runs for the sixth wicket with Hassan Khan (36 off 15 balls, 2×4, 4×6) to bring Sindh within touching distance.

And although Hassan and Anwar Ali departed with nine runs still required, Danish kept his cool as a Waqas Maqsood wide bouncer earned Sindh their second win in six matches and handed Central Punjab their fifth loss in seven matches.

Northern lead the pack with five wins from six matches; followed by Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (four wins a piece in six matches each). Southern Punjab is languishing at the bottom of the six-team table with one win in five matches.

With the top four sides to progress to the semi-finals, Sindh and the two Punjab sides will fight tooth and nail in the upcoming matches to seal places for the 17 October play-offs.

For Central Punjab, fast bowler Waqas Ahmed, who replaced an injured Naseem Shah, returned impressive figures of 3.1-0-14-3, while Zafar Gohar took two for 28 and Ehsan Adil bagged two for 45.

Earlier, Sindh displayed greasy palms but also showed glimpses of brilliance in the field and executed excellent death over bowling to restrict Central Punjab to 170 for six after sending them into bat.

Sindh showed special generosity towards Babar Azam by dropping him twice in the first 13 balls that allowed the local cricket fans to enjoy the world’s second-ranked batsman’s classy 86 on PTV Sports and overseas followers on delayed live-stream on the PCB YouTube Channel.

Babar slapped nine four and three sixes in a 53-ball 86, his second successive half-century since joining the squad for the Rawalpindi-leg matches.

While Sindh conceded runs in the field and dropped catches, two acts of brilliance also kept them in the hunt to keep Central Punjab to an achievable score. Asad Shafiq brought off a one-handed stunner to dismiss Abdullah Shafiq (16) and a couple of balls later Anwar Ali ran-out Faheem Ashraf.

Sindh bowlers, led by Sohail Khan, Mohammad Hasnain and Anwar, were on the mark and allowed Central Punjab to score 84 runs in the last 10 overs, including 44 runs off the last 30 balls.

Sohail Khan was the pick of the bowlers with three for 24, while Mohammad Hasnain and Anwar Ali took a wicket each conceding 26 and 27 runs, respectively.

Scores in brief

Sindh defeat Central Punjab by three wickets

Central Punjab 170-6, 20 overs (Babar Azam 86, Rizwan Hussain 23; Sohail Khan 3-24)

Sindh 171-7, 19.1 overs (Danish Aziz 59 not out, Hassan Khan 36, Azam Khan 32; Waqas Maqsood 3-14, Zafar Gohar 2-28, Ehsan Adil 2-45) Player of the match – Danish Aziz (Sindh).

Earlier Balochistan registered their fourth win in six games to move a step closer to securing a semi-final berth in the 17th match of the National T20 Cup for First XI teams at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday. Opener Awais Zia scored an unbeaten 92 to ensure his team easily surpass the 155-run chase against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Balochistan are now at the second spot in the six-team table with eight points from six matches behind Northern who have 10 points from six matches.Awais faced a mere 49 balls (10 fours, four sixes) in his brilliant effort that ensured Balochistan’s six wicket victory with 20 balls to spare. Balochistan lost two early wickets as Shaheen Shah Afridi continued his stunning bowling form by dismissing newcomer Abdul Wahid Bangalzai for a duck and Bismillah Khan for 18 in a pacy opening spell. Imran Butt fell for nine while Balochistan lost their captain Haris Sohail for one run before Awais was joined by Akbar-ur-Rehman in what turned out to be a match winning unbroken partnership of 88 runs for the fifth wicket. Akbar scored 24 off 22 balls, he hit three fours. Shaheen took two wickets for 38 runs in his four over spell but found little support at the other end as Balochistan batsmen especially Awais dominated the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa attack with sustained stroke play.Reflecting on his performance, man-of-the-match Awais Zia said: “My start wasn’t bad in Multan but I was struggling a bit to convert my starts, I was a bit unlucky. Today the responsibility was on me with Imam’s absence as my opening partner and I am happy that I made it count. My management and captain Haris Sohail were supporting me throughout and kept sending me messages that I needed to stay at the wicket since I can score quick runs whenever the opportunity comes.”

Balochistan opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Their bowlers produced a commendable job to restrict the powerful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa batting line-up to 154 for six in 20 overs. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lost Captain Mohammad Rizwan (5) and Mohammad Hafeez (4) cheaply. Fakhar Zaman (33 off 34 balls, two fours, three sixes) added 38 runs for the third wicket with Shoaib Malik. Malik then added 69 runs for the fourth wicket with Sahibzada Farhan who contributed 12 runs to the partnership.The seasoned Malik became the first Pakistan batsman (third overall) to reach the milestone of 10,000 runs in T20 cricket. Malik appeared in his 395th T20 match today, he joined the 10,000-run club mark when he reached 47.Malik held the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa innings together before falling to Umar Gul for 74. His innings included eight fours and two sixes and came off 44 balls. Left-armer Akif Javed with two wickets for 20 runs was the most successful Balochistan bowler.

Scores in brief

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 154-6, 20 overs (Shoaib Malik 74, Fakhar Zaman 33; Akif Javed 2-20)

Balochistan 156-4, 16.4 overs (Awais Zia 92 not out, Akbar-ur-Rehman 24 not out; Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-38)

Result – Balochistan won by six wickets, Man-of-the-match – Awais Zia (Balochistan)

Fixtures for Monday, 12 October (both matches at Pindi Cricket Stadium):Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Southern Punjab, 1500 PST ,Balochistan v Central Punjab, 1930 PST