KARACHI: Mirpur Royals completed an astonishing run chase on Friday to sail into the Kashmir Premier Lea­gue playoffs with a five-wicket win over Muzaffarabad Tig­­ers in the last preliminary-round match in Muzaffarabad.

Upfront it seemed the Tigers — who had already progressed to the playoff round — would comfortably defend 227-6, the highest total in the competition until the Royals overhauled it with two balls to spare at the Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium.

On a day of tall scoring — since the morning game between Kotli Lions and Overseas Warriors had also yielded over 400 runs — the Tigers’ innings was dominated by Mohammad Hafeez as the skipper belted 10 sixes and five fours in a brutal 55-ball knock of 110, which is the highest individual score in the event so far.

Zeeshan Ashraf (49 off 27 balls, four sixes and four fours) partnered Hafeez in a first-wicket stand of 115.

The Royals had only reached 45-1 in the Powerplay but gradually accelerated as skipper Shoaib Malik (46 off 28, five fours and one six) and Mohammad Akhlaq (42 off 18, seven fours and one six) combined to put on 81 for the third wicket. The icing on Royals’ cake was provided by Khushdil Shah, who completely changed the complexion of the game with brilliantly calculated innings. The left-hander smashed 56 from just 22 deliveries without being dismissed while striking eight boundaries and three sixes.

In Saturday’s Qualifier the Tigers will face table-toppers Rawalkot Hawks.

Meanwhile, Overseas Warriors still qualified ahead of Bagh Stallions for the next phase despite being stunned by bottom-placed Kotli Lions in Friday’s early fixture.

The Warriors collected 211-6 with Nasir Nawaz (66 off 44 balls, six fours and three sixes), Haider Ali (62 off 38, seven fours and three sixes) and Azam Khan (51 off 22, five sixes and four fours) were the chef run-getters.

The Lions won by eight wickets as they raced to 215 in 19 overs on the back of excellent contributions from captain Kamran Akmal (60 off 35, 10 fours and two sixes), Junaid Ali (51 off 28, five fours and three sixes) and Ahsan Ali (an unbeaten 56 off 29, six fours and three sixes).

The Warriors will now do battle with third-placed Royals in Eliminator 1 on Sunday with the winners going on to play the Qualifier losers on Monday.

Scores in brief:

Mirpur Royals beat Muzaffarabad Tigers by five wickets.

MUZAFFARABAD TIGERS 227-6 in 20 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 110, Zeeshan Ashraf 49, Anwar Ali 22; Salman Irshad 2-27, Shadab Majeed 2-30, Amad But 2-35); MIRPUR ROYALS 231-5 in 19.4 overs (Khushdil Shah 56 not out, Shoaib Malik 46, Mohammad Akhlaq 42, Mukhtar Ahmed 29, Sharjeel Khan 21).

Kotli Lions beat Overseas Warriors by eight wickets.

OVERSEAS WARRIORS 211-6 in 20 overs (Nasir Nawaz 66, Haider Ali 62, Azam Khan 51; Khurram Shehzad 3-39); KOTLI LIONS 215-2 in 19 overs (Kamran Akmal 60, Ahsan Ali 56 not out, Junaid Ali 51, Asif Ali 34 not out).

Saturday’s fixture: Qualifier — Rawalkot Hawks vs Muzaffarabad Tigers (10:30am PST).

Final standings

(Tabulated under played, won, lost, tied, no result, points, net-run-rate): Rawalkot Hawks 5 3 1 0 1 7 +0.215Muzaffarabad Tigers 5 3 2 0 0 6 +0.531Overseas Warriors 5 2 3 0 0 4 -0.022Mirpur Royals 5 3 2 0 0 6 -0.323Bagh Stallions 5 2 3 0 0 4 -0201Kotli Lions 5 1 3 0 1 3 -0.107

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2021