RAWALPINDI: Deceptive left-arm bowler Imran Khan Jr grabbed a dramatic hat-trick as holders Peshawar stormed into semi-finals by ending Karachi Blues’ unbeaten run in the Cool & Cool presents Haier Mobile T20 Cup at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Aided by Israrullah’s returning to form with a blazing 82, Peshawar secured a seven-wicket triumph in 18 overs to top Group ‘B’ by virtue of their head-to-head result against Sarfraz Ahmed’s side that lacked the services of Shahid Afridi on the last day of league-round fixtures.

If Karachi Blues, who had gone into this game with a splendid streak of eight victories including four of them at the qualifying stage, had defeated Peshawar the latter would have been knocked out of the tournament with Abbottabad going through to the semis on basis of their six-wicket win against Zohaib Khan’s team on Saturday.

As it stands now, Abbottabad were obviously rueing their lacklustre effort against Faisalabad on Friday when a wayward Ahmed Jamal over cost them that match. Younis Khan’s men had to settle for a consolation six-wicket victory against Islamabad early on Sunday at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad to finish third in the final pool standings.

In Monday’s semi-finals at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Karachi Blues — hoping to have Afridi back after personal commitments forced the Pakistan T20 captain to miss the Peshawar clash — will take on Group ‘A’ winners Multan with Peshawar bracing for a daunting task against Shoaib Malik’s Sialkot in the other one later in the evening.

Sialkot, the Super Eight title-winners, earned their expected berth in the last-four from Group ‘A’ with two contrasting wins in less than 24 hours. In Saturday’s last match they overcame fellow contenders Rawalpindi by 19 runs at the Pindi Cricket Stadium to leave Sohail Tanvir’s side playing just for pride in the last league-round tie against Hyderabad under lights on Sunday.

Sialkot showed their true mettle in this format at the Diamond Club Ground on Sunday afternoon when they mercilessly butchered Bahawalpur by 10 wickets.

After paceman Hasan Ali’s best-ever T20 figures of 4-11 had restricted Bahawalpur to a measly total of 96-7, Sialkot openers Mukhtar Ahmed (55 off 25 balls, nine fours and one six) and Nauman Anwar (45 off 23, six fours and two sixes) powered their home to a staggering 102-0 in just 7.4 overs of savage batting.

But it was Peshawar’s brilliant rearguard action after their heartbreaking defeat against Abbottabad which inspired the national champions to up a grand performance against Karachi Blues. Winning the toss also made a difference as Peshawar preferred chasing the runs as they did in their all three wins prior to Sunday’s encounter.

Khalid Latif continued his good to make 40 but Peshawar bowlers made it tough for Karachi Blues to score freely. The defining moment of the game arrived in the final over when Imran Jr hoodwink Sarfraz Ahmed (23), Fawad Alam (37) and Anwar Ali (0) to get them in successive deliveries while becoming the seventh bowler in Pakistan domestic T20 history to perform a hat-trick.

It was then left to the left-handed Israrullah to steer Peshawar home with a 52-ball career-best innings which included 13 fours as he and Mohammad Rizwan (40 not out) put on 91 for the third wicket. Both Imran Jr and Israrullah were declared joint recipients for the man-of-the-match prize.

Meanwhile, in the otherwise inconsequential Group ‘B’ clash at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Faisalabad — missing regular skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and experienced spinner Saeed Ajmal — lost to Lahore Whites by six wickets to face looming prospects of playing the qualifying tournament next season.

Sunday’s results:

Group ‘A’:

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Sialkot beat Bahawalpur by 10 wickets.

BAHAWALPUR 96-7 in 20 overs (Kamran Hussain 43, Moinuddin 23; Hasan Ali 4-11, Usama Mir 2-7); SIALKOT 102-0 in 7.4 overs (Mukhtar Ahmed 55 not out, Nauman Anwar 45 not out).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Lahore Whites beat Faisalabad by six wickets.

FAISALABAD 140-7 in 20 overs (Raheel Ameer 87 not out; Mohammad Irfan 3-9, Sajid Wattoo 2-26); LAHORE WHITES 141-4 in 18.4 overs (Saad Nasim 37 not out, Azhar Ali 35, Umar Siddique 34; Ehsan Adil 2-16).

Group ‘B’:

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Abbottabad beat Islamabad by six wickets.

ISLAMABAD 146 in 19 overs (Shan Masood 36, Shahid Yousuf 34; Mohammad Naeem 5-31, Kamran Ghulam 2-27); ABBOTTABAD 152-4 in 15.1 overs (Fakhar Zaman 78, Younis Khan 31 not out).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Peshawar beat Karachi Blues by seven wickets.

KARACHI BLUES 156-7 in 20 overs (Khalid Latif 40, Fawad Alam 37, Shahzaib Hasan 23, Sarfraz Ahmed 23; Imran Khan Jr 4-24, Zohaib Khan 2-26); PESHAWAR 157-3 in 18 overs (Israrullah 82, Mohammad Rizwan 40 not out).

Saturday’s remaining result:

Group ‘A’:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Sialkot beat Rawalpindi by 19 runs.

SIALKOT 176-4 in 20 overs (Haris Sohail 50, Shoaib Malik 48, Adeel Malik 28 not out); RAWALPINDI in 157-7 in 20 overs (Umar Amin 39, Sohail Tanvir 37, Nasir Jamshed 28, Yasim Murtaza 24; Bilal Asif 2-26, Bilawal Bhatti 2-30, Hasan Ali 2-32).

Monday’s fixtures:

First semi-final: Multan vs Karachi Blues (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi, 4:00pm); Second semi-final: Peshawar vs Sialkot (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi, 8:00pm).

Final Group ‘B’ standings

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

Peshawar 5 4 1 0 8 +0.517

Karachi Blues 5 4 1 0 8 +0.613

Abbottabad 5 3 2 0 6 +1.081

Lahore Whites 5 2 3 0 4 -0.962 Islamabad 5 1 4 0 2 -0.657

Faisalabad 5 1 4 0 2 -0.530

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2015

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