Fakhar Zaman form in the tournament continued, the Pakistan left-hander’s second 60-plus score in 24 hours powering Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to a 29-run win over Central Punjab. He struck five sixes and three boundaries to help Khyber surge to 178.In the second innings, the bowlers bowled out Central Punjab for 149 to register their fourth successive win in the tournament so far, and inflict a fourth straight loss on their opponents in the process.
The veteran Shoaib Malik held the innings together with a solid 27 off 24. Hafeez could manage to score 17. Asked to bowl first, Central Punjab’s bowlers were accurate but couldn’t pick wickets to create pressure on the batting line. Ahmad Bashir was pick of the bowlers as he bagged 3 wickets for 32 runs in his 4 overs while Usman Qadir, Ehsan Adil and Zafar Gohar shared a wicket each.
While chasing, Central had a shaky start losing a wicket in the opening over, and managing just 34 in the first five. A 92-run partnership between Kamran Akmal and Abdullah Shafiq put them on top, but once Shoaib Malik coaxed a false shot off Akmal, Central Punjab began to wobble. They never got a partnership together again, losing their last nine wickets for 50 runs, while Asif Afridi, Arshad Iqbal, Wahab Riaz and Junaid Khan snared two wickets apiece to secure the win for Pakhtunkhwa.
