At the fifth Champions One-Day Cup, held at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium, Panthers prevailed over Lions by 84 runs. While defending 283, Shadab Khan’s squad knocked off the Panthers for 199. The Panthers won their second championship thanks to three wickets claimed by leg-spinners Shadab and Usama Mir.
On the fourth delivery of the chase, Mohammad Hasnain bowled Sajjad Ali for a duck. The team’s score dropped to 8 runs for 2 wickets when Abdullah Shafique was lost to wicket-keeping by Amad Butt for 1 run off 5 balls.
With 60 runs (including 5 fours and 2 sixes) off of 62 balls, Imam-ul-Haq was bowled out by Shadab Khan. Mohammad Hasnain put pressure on the batting side by running out Omair Yousuf after he scored 20 runs (including 1 four and 2 sixes) off of 17 balls. After Irfan Khan got 35 runs (two fours and a six) off 50 balls bowled by Usama Mir, Usman Khan stumped him. After Khushdil Shah hit 22 runs (with 1 four and 2 sixes) off 32 balls, he was removed by Amad Butt.
Aamer Yamin got 10 runs off of 8 balls with 2 boundaries before being dismissed by Shadab Khan. Without scoring a run, Usama Mir bowled out captain Shaheen Shah Afridi. Before Saim Ayub dismissed Ahmed Daniyal, he scored 16 runs (including 2 fours) off of 14 balls. Sirajuddin hit 19 runs (including 2 sixes) off of 13 balls before Mohammad Hasnain beat him.
The Panthers batted first after winning the toss. Ayub and Awais, the opening batsmen. The batting got off to a bad start as Irfan Khan caught Azan off Sirajuddin, giving the team a run. Sajjad Ali caught Aamer Yamin, and Saim scored 10 runs off of 20 balls. During his brief spell on the crease, Sajjad Ali caught Umar Siddiq off Shaheen Afridi and finished with a duck.
After Usman Khan got 11 runs off 7 balls with two boundaries, he was bowled by Sirajuddin. Omair Yousuf then caught him. Teams were down 31-3 in the fourth over. The turn around began with a vital 144-run partnership between Haider Ali and Mubasir Khan. Muhammad scored 90 runs (including 10 fours and 3 sixes) off of 97 balls in a consistent fashion.
After hitting five fours and three sixes in 99 balls against Ahmed Daniyal, Omair Yousuf caught Haider Ali. The captain, Shadab, reached 127.58 runs off 29 balls before being caught leg before wicket by Ahmed Daniyal.
With the lower order bowled out by Shaheen Shah Afridi, Amad Butt scored one run and Arafat Minhas scored nine runs. The innings ended with Usama Mir having scored five runs. With wickets in the last over, the squad still managed to score 283 runs. Sirajuddin and Yamin both grabbed two wickets, while Daniyal and Shaheen each took three.
No doubt it was a great match, what do you think?
