The sixth day of the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 Tournament wasn't filled with any surprises as Dolphins and Stallions straight-forwardly won their games. The first game saw Karachi Dolphins taking on Lahore Eagles. Dolphins have done pretty well in the tournament without the services of Shahid Afridi. Eagles batted first and made 148-8 in their required 20 overs. Imran Farhat top scored for the Eagles with a score of 41 runs off 31 balls which included 5 fours and a six. Apart from him the only batsman who contibuted enough to the total was Taufeeq Umar who score 30 runs off 24 balls with five boundaries to his name. All the bowlers from the Dolphins' side had disciplined bowling. Rumman Raees and Haris Ayaz grabbed 2 wickets each while Muhammad Sami, Tanvir Ahmed and Faraz Ahmed grabbed one each.
The Dolphins as expected got the required total in 18.1 overs. The top order had some jolts as the openers couldn't contirbute much. But The phenomenal partnership between Asad Shafiq and Sheheryar Ghani got the Dolphins home safely. Shafiq scored a brilliant and careful 58 off 47 deliveries with six fours and Ghani struck 44 off 27 deliveries with five fours and a six. Dolphins got themsleves a berth in the semi-finals where they would face a strong Lahore Lions' side.
The second match was between Sialkot Stallions and Rawalpindi Rams. This time again, no surprises and Stallions got themselves another comfortable victory. Batting first, the Rams could only manage a meager total of 121 runs for 9 wickets in their alloted 20 overs. None of the batsmen could contribute much as Hammad Azam and Sohail Tanvir both scored 24 runs each to take the total to 121 runs. Raza Hassan was the pick of the bowlers from Stallions who grabbed 3 wicket while giving away 20 runs in his 4 overs.
Sialkot with the help of their inform opener Imran Nazir chase the target comfortably. Nazir scored a furious 59 runs off just 34 balls which included five fours and four huge sixes. Imran Nazir is currently the top scorer in the tournament with 3 games and 135 runs with 10 sixes to his name; the most by a player in the current tournament. Stallions will now be facing Peshawar Panthers in the 2nd semi final.
So, with the top four teams selected, we're up for the two exciting semi-finals to be played tomorrow.
GeoSuper