Daily Times

LAHORE: Lahore Whites defeated Rawalpindi by two wickets in the final to lift the National Twenty20 Cup at Multan Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. Chasing a modest victory total of 163, Lahore raced home for the loss of eights wickets with four balls to spare in their allotted 20 overs. Kamran Akmal (42), Umar Akmal (34) and Saif Badar (35) were the main run getters for the winners. Earlier, Rawalpindi won the toss and made 162 for the loss of eight scalps. Naved Malik (44) and Zahid Mansoor (30) were their top scorers for the losers. On Monday, the semi-finals of the National T20 Cup provided a stark contrast in terms of competition between the four outfits in fray before Rawalpindi and Lahore Whites emerged victorious to set up an intriguing title-decider. The opening semi-final saw Rawalpindi ride on a brilliant knock from Naved Malik to edge out Karachi Whites by only six runs.

The other game was horribly one-sided as the classy Lahore Whites handed out Islamabad an 88-run drubbing. In both knockout fixtures, two men stood out to inspire their respective winning teams. Rawalpindi wouldn’t have managed a total of 157-9 after Karachi Whites skipper Mohammad Sami chose to bowl first without Naved Malik’s blazing 90 runs. Later in the day, Lahore Whites powered their way to the highest total and the first 200-plus figure of this tournament as they amassed 219-6 on the back of Kamran Akmal’s dazzling innings of 93, which is also the best individual score recorded in the event that concluded with Tuesday’s final.

Published in Daily Times, December 26^th 2018.