Karachi:Southern Punjab and Sindh won their matches on Friday in the ongoing Second XI National T20 Cup at the Gaddafi Stadium.
Zain Abbas’ unbeaten 90 off 52 balls secured a seven-wicket win for Southern Punjab in their first match of the Second XI National T20 Cup. Zain and opener Tayyab Tahir (40 off 41) stitched a 105-run stand for the second wicket to help their team overhaul the 148-run target in 18.3 overs.
Out of Southern Punjab’s three wickets, two were picked by Athar Mehmood, right-arm medium fast, for 20 runs.
Southern Punjab’s Mohammad Irfan, slow left-arm, took three wickets for 36 runs, while left-arm fast Zia-ul-Haq and off-spinner Salman Ali shared four wickets between them after their captain Mohammad Naveed Yasin elected to bowl first.
Nasir Nawaz and Omair Masood were the only notable run-getters with 29 and 26 for Northern as they made 147 for eight in 20 overs.
Sindh rode to a five-wicket win on the back of Hassan Mohsin’s quickfire 34-ball 71 not out against Balochistan. The 22-year-old made a cakewalk of the 164-run target, smashing eight fours and four sixes, as his team chased it down with three balls spare.
He along with Saad Ali (33 off 30) knitted an 82-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Balochistan’s slow-left arm Jalat Khan took two wickets for 29 runs.
Captain Azeem Ghumman, who scored run-a-ball 34, and Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, who scored a half-century, provided Balochistan a 77-run opening stand after the former elected to bat. Abdul Wahid smashed five fours and four sixes to score 73 off 49. Ayyaz Tasawar, batting at four, made 27 off 16, which included three fours and two sixes.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa play Southern Punjab in the first match on Saturday, while Balochistan and Central Punjab face-off in the second match of the day.