RAWALPINDI: Unheralded Saad Nasim produced an innings of substance as reigning champions Lahore Lions overcame a top-order calamity before defeating Multan Tigers by 11 runs to book their place in the semi-finals of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup at the Pindi Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.

The 23-year-old right-hander couldn’t have found a better time or place to notch his maiden T20 half century after Mohammad Hafeez’s Lions had plummeted to 38-5 when Umar Akmal was trapped in front of the wickets by Zulfiqar Babar for four.

Displaying great temperament and shot selection Saad hammered three sixes and as many fours in making an undefeated 61 from 54 balls. Asif Raza lent excellent support as the sixth-wicket pair put on 82 in 76 balls to revive the Lions.

Choosing to bat first in the second quarter-final proved a disadvantage as the Lions lost Nasir Jamshed (2), Ahmed Shehzad (17 off 12 balls, three fours), Umar Siddique (4) and Umar Akmal — who was later hauled up by the match referee for showing his bat to umpire Ahmed Shahab upon being declared out — in the space of 23 deliveries for the addition of 21 runs.

But Saad and Asif not only lifted their star-studded side out of trouble but provided Lions with enough runs to defend.

Zulfiqar, the wily slow left-armer, once again was the pick of Tigers’ bowlers with figures of three for 25 in four overs with all his victims — Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Siddique and Umar Akmal — departing in six balls.

Pace-bowling all-rounder Aamir Yamin had earlier sent back Nasir and Pakistan Twenty20 captain Hafeez in his first over to give Tigers the best possible start but his second spell of two overs cost 22 runs when Saad and Asif were going berserk.

The Tigers needed Sohaib Maqsood to make a substantial contribution to stand any hope of setting up a semi-final clash with the Islamabad Leopards but the Pakistan batsman contributed just 12 before scooped a high catch to Nasim off Imran Ali.

Kashif Naved staged a fight but his unbeaten 43 from 28 balls (three fours and two sixes) were never going to hurt the Lions who held the Tigers to 134-6 when the game ended. Zain Abbas (25 off 26 balls, five boundaries) was the other major run-getter for the Tigers.

Off-spinner Adnan Rasool bounced back from his mauling against Younis Khan’s Abbottabad Falcons on Wednesday, when his three overs went for 34 runs, to snare tidy analysis of two for 21.

The remaining two quarter-finals are scheduled for Friday with Faisalabad Wolves facing Larkana Bulls and the Falcons playing Karachi Zebras.

Friday’s fixtures (quarter-finals):

Faisalabad Wolves v Larkana Bulls (Pindi Cricket Stadium, 12:00pm); Abbottabad Falcons v Karachi Zebras (Pindi Cricket Stadium, 4:00pm).

Scoreboard LAHORE LIONS: Nasir Jamshed lbw b Aamir 2 Ahmed Shehzad b Zulfiqar 17 Mohammad Hafeez c Sohaib b Aamir 4 Umar Siddique c Gulraiz b Zulfiqar 4 Saad Nasim not out 61 Umar Akmal lbw b Zulfiqar 4 Asif Raza b Rahat 35 Wahab Riaz not out 9 EXTRAS (LB-5, W-2, NB-2) 9 TOTAL (for six wkts, 20 overs) 145 FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-21, 3-26, 4-34, 5-38, 6-120. DID NOT BAT: Imran Ali, Adnan Rasool, Aizaz Cheema. BOWLING: Abdur Rauf 1-0-16-0 (1nb); Aamir Yamin 4-0-36-2 (2w); Zulfiqar Babar 4-0-25-2; Rahat Ali 4-0-27-1; Kashif Naved 2-0-18-0; Zain Abbas 3-0-11-0; Sohaib Maqsood 2-0-7-0. MULTAN TIGERS: Zain Abbas c Umar Akmal b Wahab 25 Zeeshan Ashraf b Adnan 12 Sohaib Maqsood c Saad b Imran 12 Kashif Naved not out 43 Saeed Anwar Jr b Hafeez 4 Naved Yasin b Adnan 8 Gulraiz Sadaf run out 11 Aamir Yamin not out 16 EXTRAS (B-1, W-2) 3 TOTAL (for six wkts, 20 overs) 134 FALL OF WKTS: 1-32, 2-46, 3-50, 4-60, 5-76, 6-101. DID NOT BAT: Zulfiqar Babar, Abdur Rauf, Rahat Ali. BOWLING: Mohammad Hafeez 4-0-30-1; Aizaz Cheema 4-0-31-0; Adnan Rasool 4-0-21-2 (1w); Wahab Riaz 4-0-17-1; Imran Ali 4-0-34-1 (1w). RESULT: Lahore Lions won by 11 runs. UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza and Ahmed Shahab. TV UMPIRE: Khalid Mahmood. MATCH REFEREE: Aziz-ur-Rehman. MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Saad Nasim.