National T20 Cup 2021: Roundup, Saturday, 9 October

Match 25, Sindh vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Sindh 152/6 in 20 overs (Masood 54; Iftikhar 2-25) lost to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 154/3 in 18 overs (Iftikhar 55*; Zahid 1-33) by 7 wickets with 12 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Iftikhar Ahmed.

Iftikhar Ahmed (2-25, 55*) almost single-handedly steered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to a seven-wicket win against Sindh in Match 25 of the National T20 Cup 2021 in Rawalpindi.

After asking Sindh to bat, Iftikhar first returned 2-25 with ball to restrict Sindh to 152/6. Shan Masood top-scored with 37-ball 54 in this total, while Anwar Ali remained not out on 34 off 27 balls.

Coming to the chase, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were reduced to 54/3 in 6.4 overs. Iftikhar (55* in 34 balls) and Sahibzada Farhan (49* in 37) forged an unbroken 100 from there, and guided their side reach the target with 12 balls to spare.

Match 26, Balochistan v Northern

Balochistan 185/7 in 20 overs (Shafique 73; Zaman 3-31) lost to Northern 186/5 in 19.5 overs (Imran 64; Umaid 2-31) by 5 wickets with 1 ball to spare. Player of the Match: Ali Imran.

Northern survived a scare against Balochistan to claim a five-wicket win in Match 26 of the competition.

Balochistan rode on Abdullah Shafique’s 44-ball 73 and Imam-ul-Haq’s 39-ball 50 to pile up 185/7 after being put in. Zaman Khan did the most damage for Northern, with 3-31. Sohail Tanvir, Muhammad Musa, Nauman Ali, and Aamer Jamal claimed a wicket each.

Nasir Nawaz (30 in 21 balls) and Ali Imran (64 in 45) then got Northern off to a rollicking start. They added 60 in 40 balls to set the tone before Zeeshan Malik (53 in 35) carried the momentum, and helped Northern reach the target in the final over of the contest.