KARACHI: Fata Cheetahs all but pulled off another sensational result in their favour before Multan Tigers hung in for a thrilling four-run win in the Group ‘B’ game of the Bank alBaraka presents Haier T20 Cup at the National Stadium here on Friday.

Fresh from their unexpected triumph over Karachi Zebras 24 hours ago, the Cheetahs played out of their skins to match their much stronger opponents. Having lost the toss in the evening game, the Cheetahs had the Tigers on the ropes at 58-4 midway through the 12th over until Sohaib Maqsood showed his class to dig his team out of the mire.

The elegant Pakistan batsman was given an early reprieve when a simple chance was not availed by the Cheetahs. Apart from that solitary blemish, Sohaib was simply splendid in his shot selection as he carved 78 out of the 132 runs Tigers made whilst he was at the crease after arriving at the start of the third over.

Driving disdainfully and pulling with assurance, Sohaib clobbered four sixes and seven boundaries during his wonderful exhibition lasting 54 deliveries. The most dramatic moment of the game arrived in the 17th over when he effortlessly slammed consecutive onside sixes off left-arm fast bowler Usman Khan Shinwari in an over yielding 20 runs.

Shinwari, the Cheetahs young captain, had a tough outing since his four overs went for 38 runs and took most of the punishment from Sohaib and Gulraiz Sadaf. In fact, it was a good comeback for the Tigers who came into this game on the back of a 14-run opening-day defeat against the Zebras on Wednesday night.

Man-of-the-match Sohaib and Gulraiz were involved in a partnership of 84 off only 48 balls after Zain Abbas, Zeeshan Ashraf, Babar Ali and Naved Yasin had all trudged off to the dugout. Sohaib ultimately fell in the final over when he attempted to clear the midwicket fence but found Khushdil Shah clinging on to a good catch.

The Cheetahs were all at sea when their openers, Khushdil and Majid Khan, saw the giant figure of Mohammad Irfan take up the new ball. The left-armer’s first three overs yielded just four runs, including a rare maiden in this form of cricket.

Khushdil, however, gained in confidence when he was joined by fellow left-hander Mohammad Naeem in a third stand worth 74 runs in 58 deliveries until Naeem was caught behind off Sohaib for 37-ball 36 (seven fours).

Khushdil, who returned unbeaten on 61 (53 balls, three sixes and three fours), and Asif Afridi (31 not out, 23 balls, one six and one four) then infused more excitement as they added 62 in 45 balls.

But Rahat Ali and Irfan proved crucial as their combined final three overs allowed Cheetahs just 22 runs, including six when Rahat came to deliver the last one with Cheetahs requiring 11.

Scoreboard
MULTAN TIGERS:

Zain Abbas b Usman 3 Zeeshan Ashraf c Majid b Irfanullah 2 Sohaib Maqsood c Khushdil b Zeeshan 78 Babar Ali st Rehan b Asif Afridi 15 Naved Yasin st Rehan b Asif Afridi 4 Gulraiz Sadaf not out 35 Aamir Yamin not out 0 EXTRAS (LB-5, W-4, NB-2) 11

TOTAL (for five wkts, 20 overs) 148

FALL OF WKTS: 1-10, 2-10, 3-48, 4-58, 5-142.

DID NOT BAT: Hasnain Bukhari, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali.

BOWLING: Usman Khan Shinwari 4-0-38-1 (1nb); Irfanullah 4-0-26-1; Asif Ali 4-0-22-0 (1w); Asif Afridi 4-0-20-2 (1w); Zeeshan Khan 4-0-37-1 (2w).

FATA CHEETAHS:

Khushdil Shah not out 61 Majid Khan run out 0 Almar Afridi c ulraiz b Irfan 1 Mohammad Naeem c Gulraiz b Sohaib 36 Asif Afridi run out 31 Zeeshan Khan not out 3 EXTRAS (LB-6, W-4, NB-2) 12

TOTAL (for four wkts, 20 overs) 144

FALL OF WKTS: 1-3, 2-4, 3-78, 4-140.

DID NOT BAT: Asif Ali, Rehan Afridi, Irfanullah, Sohrab Khan, Usman Khan Shinwari.

BOWLING: Mohammad Irfan 4-1-10-1; Aamir Yamin 3-0-18-0 (1w); Zain Abbas 3-0-19-0; Rahat Ali 4-0-34-0 (1w); Sohaib Maqsood 4-0-38-1 (1nb, 1w); Zulfiqar Babar 2-0-19-0.

RESULT: Multan Tigers won by four wickets.

UMPIRES: Qaiser Waheed and Javed Ashraf.

TV UMPIRE: Saqib Khan.

MATCH REFEREE: Saadat Ali.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Sohaib Maqsood.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2014