Fakhar Zaman's blazing 68 steers Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to seal semi-final berth

A blazing 34-ball 68 from Fakhar Zaman orchestrated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s fifth win of the National T20 Cup as they recorded a comprehensive 73-run win over Southern Punjab at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi.

The left-handed opener stroked his third half-century of the tournament before Musadiq Ahmed blasted 33 runs from nine balls to lift Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to an imposing 205 for four.

Following Shan Masood’s decision to bowl first, Fakhar provided Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a solid start. The 30-year-old smashed as many as 11 fours and two sixes over the course of an innings during which he put a 71-run partnership for the second wicket with Mohammad Hafeez, who made 17 runs from 20 balls.

Fakhar set Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s innings alight in the fifth over, which yielded 19 runs, by smashing Ali Shafiq for three fours and a six.

Southern Punjab’s chase got off to the worst possible start when captain Shan Masood perished on the third delivery of the innings to the fiery Pakistan speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi, caught by Iftikhar without opening his account.

Scores in brief:

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Southern Punjab by 73 runs

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 205-4, 20 overs (Fakhar Zaman 68, Iftikhar Ahmed 36, Shoaib Malik 33 not out, Musadiq Ahmed 33 not out; Aamer Yamin 2-36, Mohammad Ilyas 2-43)

Southern Punjab 132 all out, 19.3 overs (Mohammad Imran 48, Zain Abbas 34; Junaid Khan 2-31)

Tuesday’s(13 Oct) fixtures:

1500 PST - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Sindh. Imran Jawed and Rashid Riaz (on-field umpires), Ahsan Raza (third umpire), Saqib Khan (fourth umpire); Mohammad Javed (match referee)

1930 PST - Central Punjab v Southern Punjab. Asif Yaqoob and Imtiaz Iqbal (on-field umpires), Ghaffar Kazmi (third umpire), Shozab Raza (fourth umpire); Ali Naqvi (match referee)