KARACHI: Teenager Nauman Anwar arrived on the big stage with a stupendous 97 while inspiring Sialkot Stallions to a crushing 74-run victory against Lahore Lions in the final of the Cool & Cool presents Haier Super 8 T20 Cup at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Monday night.

The Stallions, thereby, also displaced the Lions as Pakistan’s representatives at the next edition of the Champions League T20, an honour which Shoaib Malik’s side have earned for the second time after participating in the qualifiers staged in South Africa two years ago.

The 19-year-old Nauman, who made his debut in this tournament in a role of a dashing opener, bludgeoned 10 boundaries and six sixes during his 54-ball knock — the right-hander’s third of the event — to take his tally of runs to 270 in five matches as the Stallions galloped to an imposing 197-9 after Malik called correctly at the toss.

Batting under lights had been a major worry for teams chasing and being the title-deciding game the pressure got to even such an experienced group of players that the Kamran Akmal-led Lions had.

The game was effectively over in the opening five overs of the chase when the Lions crashed to 25-4. Ahmed Shehzad was undone by the very first ball of the innings when Bilawal Bhatti cleaned him up for a golden duck.

Mohammad Hafeez, the former Pakistan T20 captain, was caught by Malik off Sultan Ahmed for 10 before slow left-armer took care of Kamran via a catch by Ayaz Tasawwar for a nine-ball three.

Shoaib Malik’s victorious team to play Champions League T20

Off-spinner Bilal Asif, who was later adjudged the best all-rounder for scoring 144 runs and taking six wickets, forced Nasir Jamshed to play an indiscreet stroke in the air after the left-hander had made only two.

Umar Akmal was the last hope for the Lions. But after reaching 35 in a 30-ball innings featuring four boundaries and one six, he was bowled by Bilal with half the team back with only 62 on the board.

Thereafter, just the formalities remained; Saad Nasim hit run-a-ball 26 with a six and one four, Imam-ul-Haq made 21 off many deliveries without being dismissed while Imran Ali thrashed a brace of sixes and one four in making a 15-ball 23.

Mukhtar Ahmed, an occasional purveyor of leg-spin bowling, got rid of both Mustafa Iqbal and Imran to emulate Sultan and Bilal with two wickets.

The Stallions, boasting a very formidable T20 record with six national titles — including five on the trot between 2005-06 and 2009-10 — under their belt, were too good for the Lions and it proved by the time the first half ended.

Nauman dominated the play while sharing a game-changing partnership of 111 in 68 balls with the Pakistan left-hander Haris Sohail (47 off 34 balls) as the fourth-wicket pair overcame the loss of early wickets.

Haris, though being outscored by his young partner, played a crucial role to put his side in full control. He was caught by Umar Akmal off Imran after striking four fours and one six.

Malik, demoting himself to No. 7, slammed one six in scoring 11 off eight balls, while Ayaz also hit a six in his six-ball 13.

Aizaz Cheema was easily the pick of Lions bowling along with left-arm spinner Qaiser Ashraf as the duo took seven wickets between them. The 35-year-old seamer bagged four for 34 and Qaiser grabbed three for 39.

The Stallions swept the awards on display. Not only they won the champions’ purse of Rs2 million — the Lions taking Rs1 million — Nauman was declared the tournament’s best batsman as well as the obvious man-of-the-match while leg-spinner Usama Mir claimed the best bowler prize for his 11 wickets, although he didn’t take one in the final as the Stallions celebrated their second Super 8 crown after having the first event at Rawalpindi in 2012.

Scoreboard

SIALKOT STALLIONS:

Mukhtar Ahmed c Umar b Qaiser 6

Nauman Anwar c Ahmed b Qaiser 97

Bilal Asif c Saad b Aizaz 5

Ahmed Butt c Kamran b Aizaz 4

Haris Sohail c Umar b Imran 47

Ali Khan c and b Qaiser 8

Shoaib Malik c Umar b Aizaz 11

Ayaz Tasawwar run out 13

Bilawal Bhatti c Nasir b Aizaz 0

Sultan Ahmed not out 5 EXTRAS (LB-1) 1

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 20 overs) 197

FALL OF WKTS: 1-18, 2-35, 3-39, 4-150, 5-158, 6-172, 7-182, 8-182, 9-197.

DID NOT BAT: Usama Mir.

BOWLING: Qaiser Ashraf 4-0-39-3; Aizaz Cheema 4-0-34-4; Imran Ali 4-0-47-1; Mustafa Iqbal 3-0-29-0; Mohammad Hafeez 3-0-26-0; Saad Nasim 2-0-21-0.

LAHORE LIONS:

Ahmed Shehzad b Bilawal 0

Kamran Akmal c Ayaz b Sultan 3

Mohammad Hafeez c Malik b Sultan 10

Umar Akmal b Bilal 35

Nasir Jamshed c Bilawal b Bilal 2

Saad Nasim c Usama b Malik 26

Imam-ul-Haq not out 21

Mustafa Iqbal c Bilal b Mukhtar 1

Imran Ali b Mukhtar 23

Aizaz Cheema not out 1

EXTRAS (W-1) 1

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 20 overs) 123

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-11, 3-18, 4-25, 5-62, 6-88, 7-91, 8-121.

DID NOT BAT: Qaiser Ashraf.

BOWLING: Bilawal Bhatti 2-0-16-1; Sultan Ahmed 4-0-16-2; Bilal Asif 4-0-30-2; Usama Mir 4-0-18-0; Shoaib Malik 3-0-20-1 (1w); Mukhtar Ahmed 3-0-23-2.

RESULT: Sialkot Stallions won by 74 runs.

UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza and Shozab Raza.

TV UMPIRE: Ahmed Shahab.

MATCH REFEREE: Musaddeq Rasool Khan.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Nauman Anwar.

Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2015

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