FAISALABAD: Saim Ayub and Mohammad Hasnain shared eight wickets among them while Usman Khan struck an unbeaten 26-ball 54 as Panthers cruised to a seven-wicket triumph over Markhors in the qualifier here at the Iqbal Stadium on Tuesday to make it to the Champions One-day Cup final.

Panthers chased the meagre 138-run target in 23.4 overs. Markhors will now take on the winner of the first Eliminator on September 27 in their second bid to make a place in the finale.

Earlier, Saim ran through the Markhors batting line-up with figures of 5-24, his maiden five-wicket haul across formats in competitive career, in just six overs. Pacer Hasnain returned figures of 3-25 in his nine overs as his tally of wickets increased to 14 in the tournament.

After Markhors won the toss and opted to bat first, Ali Raza struck to remove Haseebullah, who made his maiden appearance in the tournament, in just the second over of the innings.

Hasnain broke the back of the Markhors batting line-up in the next over as he struck on back to back balls pinning Kamran Ghulam leg-before while Mohammad Rizwan was caught behind. He dismissed Fakhar Zaman in the seventh over reducing the Markhors to 25-4.

A 77-run partnership between Salman Ali Agha and Iftikhar Ahmed brough some semblance of stability back to the Markhors innings before Iftikhar was run out for 39 in 61 balls with the help of three four and one six. Salman hit four fours and a solitary six in his 52 off 81 balls. Markhors lost their last five wickets for 27 runs managing 137 all out in 36 overs.

In turn, Saim (33 off 36, six fours) gave his team a solid start as he put on a 50-run second-wicket partnership with Umar Siddiq (35 off 52, five fours and a six) after Azan Awais returned for 13. Usman, batting at number four, came out all guns blazing as he hit five fours and four massive sixes to help his team chase the total in 23.4 overs. He also became the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 259 runs to his name.

Akif Javed, Salman Ali Agha and Zahid Mehmood picked up one wicket each.

Scores in brief

MARKHORS 137 in 36 overs (Salman Ali Agha 52, Iftikhar Ahmed 39; Saim Ayub 5-24, Mohammad Hasnain 3-25, Ali Raza 1-29); PANTHERS 143-3 in 23.4 overs (Usman Khan 54 not out, Umar Siddiq 35, Saim Ayub 33; Akif Javed 1-20, Salman Ali Agha 1-24).

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2024