Karachi: Sialkot Stallions retained the Pakistan National Twenty20 Cup by beating Faisalabad Wolves by five wickets at the jam packed National Stadium in Karachi. A luminary battle was witnessed by record number of spectators at the stadium, which exceeded the original capacity of 35,000 with thousands other were choked outside the ground.
It was a the perfect start by Stallions after been asked to bowl first as Mohammad Asif dislodged man in form Asif Hussain on the second ball of the day with Abdul Razzaq snapped Mohammad Salman in his first over to dent Wolves. Opener Mohammad Hafeez – who scored hundred against Lahore Lions in semi final, was again in a sound mood, stood tall in seek of another runs' feast but it was not the ideal case as Stallions were too strong to deal with.
Although Wolves never looked in control throughout the innings only defied with couple of steady cameo but before they get fluent, Stallions revert back strongly to dispatch it. As Khurram Shahzad drove back to Abdur Rehman – who dabbed smartly to impel the ball back onto the non-striker's to reduce Hafeez from the crease. Rehman hit back in the same over to pin down Shahzad, trapped lbw for 6 off 13 balls.
Skipper Misbah ul Haq thereafter had a enticement stand with Shahid Nazir to help the side to pile up a respective total to fight on but skipper failed to clear the mid-wicket boundary to be caught Shahid Yousaf off Sarfaraz Ahmed after adding nearly run-a-ball of 27.
With the departure of Misbah, the hopes got down and Rana Naveed ul Hasan further broke Mohammad Talha's (7) timber – who bashed the third and final six of Wolves innings, and Saeed Ajmal (5) run out on the concluding ball of the innings to reduce the Wolves at 109 for 9 in 20 overs.
Stallions off to a lively purse as Imran Nazir cracked a dashing cover drive for boundary and and a six off the opening two balls by Talha but another big drive straight to cover fielder concluded his three-ball cameo. Mansoor Amjad was the next man back in hut after a expensive mix-up in the middle to be ran out for six-ball duck.
Rana, bucked up with his all round performance so far, knocked 27 off 21 balls and captain Shoaib Malik – who edged back to wicket-keeper, fell in quick succession but Abdul Razzaq smacked four consecutive fours off Talha regain the authority for Stallions.
Asad Ali returned for his second spell to dismiss Razzaq but the damage was not that serious as Stallions needed another 16 runs off 32 balls. The only threat came from the spectators as some one from the general stand threw some bottles, the incident obligate Wolves skipper to take his team off the field but the matter was sorted out in due course. Thenceforth, Adeel Malik (14 not out) – brother of Shoaib along with Shahid Yousaf (21 not out) secured the way through to victory to maintain their domination in last five years.
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http://www.cricdb.com/archive/international/news/detail.php?nid=2934
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