KARACHI: Multan Tigers stormed in to the semi-finals of the AlBaraka Bank presents Haier T20 Cup after a frenetic run-chase which ended Rawalpindi Rams’ hopes of qualifying in a breathtaking last Group ‘B’ match at the National Stadium on Sunday.

After an inspired burst from the gangling Mohammad Irfan had helped the Tigers curtail their rivals to 162-5, Zain Abbas, Sohaib Maqsood and Gulraiz Sadaf all made significant contributions with the bat as Zulfiqar Babar’s men wrapped up the game with full six overs to spare.

The left-handed Zain set the early tone with a buccaneering 50 from only 29 deliveries, striking six boundaries and two sixes while sharing a second-wicket stand of 71 in 40 balls with Sohaib.

By the time Zain was dismissed Sohaib was already into his groove. The arrival of Gulraiz Sadaf, who was promoted to accelerate the rate of scoring further, signalled the death-knell for the Rams.

Sohaib and the effervescent Gulraiz plundered 57 from the next four overs after Zain left the scene at the halfway stage of the innings. Sohaib notched up his second half century on the trot in great style by lifting Sohail Tanvir into the midwicket stand for his third six of the innings.

The Pakistan one-day and T20 batsman, who upstaged Irfan for the man-of-the-match award, also sent the ball five times to the fence during his lovely 29-ball knock.

Earlier, Umar Amin was the star performer for the Rams with another sublime contribution (72 off 54 balls, nine fours and two sixes) after Tigers skipper Zulfiqar Babar chose to field upon winning the toss.

The elegant left-hander hit some delight shots during his seven T20 half-century. Medium-pacer Aamir Yamin was thrice hit for boundaries in succession in different directions. Later Umar deposited Rizwan Haider and Irfan for sixes over the long off region when he and Hammad Azam (41 off 30, six boundaries) forged a partnership of 75 from 57 balls.

Irfan, who dismissed Naved Malik and Awais Zia in a testing two-over opening spell, returned back to get rid of Hammad to end up taking three for 24.

Final Group ‘B’ standings

(Tabulated under played, won, lost, tie, points, net run-rate):

Multan Tigers 3 2 1 0 4 +0.773

Rawalpindi Rams 3 2 1 0 4 -0.205

Karachi Zebras 3 1 2 0 2 +0.171

Fata Cheetahs 3 1 2 0 2 -0.666

Scoreboard

RAWALPINDI RAMS:

Awais Zia lbw b Irfan13

Naved Malik c Rizwan b Irfan2

Zahid Mansoor c Zeeshan b Zulfiqar15

Umar Amin not out72

Yasim Murtaza b Rahat10

Hammad Azam c b Irfan41

Sohail Tanvir not out5

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-3) 4

TOTAL (for five wkts, 20 overs)162

FALL OF WKTS: 1-15, 2-15, 3-48, 4-75, 5-150.

DID NOT BAT: Jamal Anwar, Mohammad Nawaz, Samiullah, Nasir Malik.

BOWLING: Mohammad Irfan 4-0-24-3; Aamir Yamin 4-1-33-0; Zulfiqar Babar 4-0-30-1; Rahat Ali 4-0-42-1 (1w); Zain Abbas 1-0-8-0; Rizwan Haider 3-0-24-0 (2w).

MULTAN TIGERS:

Zain Abbas c Naved b Nasir50

Zeeshan Ashraf c Nasir b Awais21

Sohaib Maqsood not out51

Gulraiz Sadaf not out35

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-6) 7

TOTAL (for two wkts, 14 overs)165

FALL OF WKTS: 1-36, 2-107.

DID NOT BAT: Naved Yasin, Hasnain Bukhari, Rizwan Haider, Aamir Yamin, Zulfiqar Babar, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Irfan.

BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir 4-0-57-0 (1w); Nasir Malik 3-0-36-1 (2w); Zahid Mansoor 3-0-19-0 (1w); Awais Zia 1-0-9-1; Samiullah 1-0-16-0; Yasim Murtaza 1-0-14-0 (1w); Umar Amin 1-0-12-0.

RESULT: Multan Tigers won by eight wickets.

UMPIRES: Mir Dad and Tahir Hussain.

TV UMPIRE: Sajid Afridi.

MATCH REFEREE: Anwer Khan.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Sohaib Maqsood.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd , 2014