Captain Malik guides Sialkot to 7th T20 win
After a week of exuberating Cricket at the Pindi Statdium in Rawalpindi, which saw fans turn out in their thousands to catch a glimpse of their cricketing heroes, we finally have a Winner. For the 7th time Sialkot takes home the Faysal Bank T20 Cup and that to in convincing style, with all the players contributing to the dominance throughout the tournament.
After losing the toss, Shoaib Malik’s Sialkot Stallions were asked to field on what seemed to be a good and dry pitch, very much suited to batting. Shahzaib Hasan started strongly, attempting to hit every ball out of the park, however he failed to take full advantage of his form and soon started a small slump which halted Karachi’s progress in the post-powerplay overs. Khalid Latif stood firm scoring an elegant 81, as Karachi creeped up to a decent 167/8 after a late burst from young Left-arm spinner Raza Hasan, picking up 4 wicket in the last over.
Posting only 167, Karachi was hoping for Mohammad Sami to lead the attack against Sialkot, and finally gather their first Twenty20 Cup. However, it was not to be as Imran Nazir continued his fine form over the last few months to smash his way to 41 off only 20 balls. Shoaib Malik then took guard, to lead his side with a timely 62 including 7 fours. He was well complimented by the young Harris Sohail, who scored also scored a magnificent 55 in only his 5th Twenty20 match. All of the bowlers suffered at the hand of the Sialkot batsman who punished every bad ball and gave each bowler an economy above 8.
Shoaib Malik bagged the Man of the Match, choosing to share it with the young Harris Sohail.
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