The Faysal Bank T20 Super Eight is proving to be great spectacle for the viewers of T20 Cricket in Pakistan and the excitement of the
Today it was all about the Group B as the strongest teams of the group Sialkot Stallions and Karachi Dolphins locked horns with each other in the first game. Dolphins Captain Mohammad Sami won the toss and on a dry wicket, Sami opted to Bat first. Hero from the last game Khalid Latif managed just 15 runs today and was removed by Umaid Asif; Dolphins were 25/1 in the 4th over. Asad Shafiq and Shahzeb Hassan had a steady partnership as they took the score to 60/1 in up until the 11th over. However Sialkot skipper Shoaib Malik continued His good bowling form and removed Asad Shafiq and Shahzeb Hassan of consecutive deliveries, the Dolphins were in trouble at 67/3. Dolphins’ middle order was not able to handle the pressure created by the bowling side, and wickets fell on regular intervals. Rameez Raja and Shehryar Ghani got starts but were unable to play a big innings. The Karachi Dolphins scored a modest 123/9 in the 20 overs. Shoaib Malik was the main destroyer picking up 5 wickets. Shahzeb Hassan top scored for Dolphins with 30. The Stallions innings started off with a bang as Imran Nazeer was at his belligerent best, He took the attack to the Karachi Bowlers and hit sixes and fours with ease. Nazeer struck 5 huge sixes and 5 fours to score a match winning 76 not out. Sialkot Stallions lost the other opener Shakeel Ansar earlier on through a run out but that did not affect Nazeer. He single handedly took the game away from the Dolphins. Nazeer got good support from Haris Sohail who scored 43 runs of almost the same number of deliveries and both of them managed to chase down the total in just 16 overs. It was a comprehensive win for the Stallions who are almost certain to qualify for the final four. Shoaib Malik was given the Man of the Match award for His brilliant spell of bowling. Malik had figures of 5/29 in His quota of 4 overs.
The second game played under lights was between hosts Rawalpindi Rams and Lahore Eagles. It was a must win game for both the teams as they had lost their opening games, the important toss was won by Lahore’s Taufeeq Umar and He had no hesitation in electing to bat first. Lahore lost their opener Humayun Farhat early in the innings; however two Pakistani test cricketers Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar brought their experience into play and took the team to a comfortable position at the half way stage. But cricket is a funny game; Lahore Eagles
were 81/1 in the 10th over as they lost the well set Imran Farhat for 33 the Lahore innings suffered a collapsed after that and wickets fell regularly courtesy good come back by Rawalpindi. Taufeeq Umar held one end and continued to score He was eventually dismissed by Rawalpindi via a run out. The Lahore Eagles scored 158/10 and they batted the full overs. It was a disappointing end to the innings as the Eagles were expected to reach a total in excess of 170. Sohail Tanvir was the star with ball for the home team picking up 3 wickets at a decent economy of 7. Rawalpindi needed 159 to win the game and stay in the competition and once again they had high hopes from their Dynamic Dup opening the batting i.e. Naveed Malik and Awais Zia, however Naveed Malik got out on the second ball of the innings, there were bad things to follow for the Rams as they lost Umar Amin, Tahir Mughal and Jamal Anwar in quick succession which reduced the team to 18/4. The Rams never recovered after the early set back and wickets kept on falling regularly. Awais Zia scored an impressive 50 but apart from Him none of the Rams batsmen was able to counter the bowling from Lahore. Rawalpindi Rams were bowled out for 124 in 17 overs. Awais Zia top scored with 56, Jamal Anwar was the next best batsman scoring 14. For Lahore Emmad Ali, Mustafa Iqbal and Junaid Zia claimed 3 wickets each. With this defeat its certain that Rawalpindi Rams are out of the competition and after Sialkot Stallions either Karachi Dolphins or Lahore Eagles will go through to the semis from group B.
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