Babar Azam-led Central Punjab held on to beat Imam-ul-Haq-led Balochistan in the fourth match of the National T20 Cup 2020-2021 at Rawalpindi stadium. The tournament has been organized by PCB in the aftermath of the embarrassing New Zealand abandonment of their tour with Pakistan at the eleventh hour followed by the ungrateful English Cricket Board cancelling its upcoming tour to Pakistan.
Wahab Riaz was named as the Player of the Match as he took 2 wickets with an economy rate of 4.75 and finished Baluchistan’s 142 total in style scoring 20 Runs off just 8 balls. The skipper Babar Azam also played an impressive knock of 65 off 45.
Scorecards
| BATTING | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| Imam-ul-Haq (c) | 8 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 88.88 |
| c Hasan Ali b Faheem Ashraf | |||||
| Abdul Bangalzai | 19 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 105.55 |
| c & b Wahab Riaz | |||||
| Bismillah Khan † | 21 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 110.52 |
| c Hasan Ali b Usman Qadir | |||||
| Akbar-ur-Rehman | 11 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 91.66 |
| c & b Usman Qadir | |||||
| Ayaz Tasawwar | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| lbw b Usman Qadir | |||||
| Amad Butt | 11 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 110.00 |
| c Wahab Riaz b Usman Qadir | |||||
| Kashif Bhatti | 27 | 27 | 2 | 2 | 100.00 |
| b Wahab Riaz | |||||
| Umaid Asif | 32 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 177.77 |
| not out | |||||
| Yasir Shah | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| not out | |||||
| Extras | 10 | (lb 3, nb 3, w 4) |
CENTRAL PUNJAB (PAKISTAN) INNINGS (TARGET: 143 RUNS FROM 20 OVERS)
| BATTING | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
| Kamran Akmal † | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 16.66 |
| lbw b Junaid Khan | |||||
| Babar Azam (c) | 65 | 45 | 8 | 1 | 144.44 |
| b Akif Javed | |||||
| Ahmed Shehzad | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 200.00 |
| c Yasir Shah b Akif Javed | |||||
| Muhammad Akhlaq | 14 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 70.00 |
| c Ayaz Tasawwar b Kashif Bhatti | |||||
| Faheem Ashraf | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| c Amad Butt b Kashif Bhatti | |||||
| Hussain Talat | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| b Yasir Shah | |||||
| Hasan Ali | 19 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 118.75 |
| lbw b Junaid Khan | |||||
| Ahmed Safi Abdullah | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| c Imam-ul-Haq b Junaid Khan | |||||
| Wahab Riaz | 20 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 250.00 |
| not out | |||||
| Usman Qadir | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| not out | |||||
| Extras | 10 | (b 4, lb 2, nb 4) |
Earlier, the captains of all the six participating sides of the National T20 have urged fans in Rawalpindi and Lahore, to rally behind the tournament which showcases the best of Pakistan’s T20 talent.
All 18 Pakistan players (including the three traveling reserves) selected for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup will be seen in action in the tournament that runs from 23 September to 13 October.
The first leg will run until October 3 at Rawalpindi’s Pindi Cricket Stadium, before the action moves to Gaddafi Stadium, where the second leg will be staged from October 6-13. Nearly PKR 9 million prize money will be up for grabs in the National T20.
Earlier, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa captain Muhammad Rizwan said on Thursday, “The tournament provides us a great opportunity to prove to the world that we are as safe as any cricketing destination, all the players are motivated to go a step extra this time around in the National T20. All six teams are balanced while being defending champions, our aim will be to defend the title.”
In the next match of the tournament, the winner of their opening match Khyber Pukhtunkhwa will be facing Southern Punjab who lost to Sindh yesterday.
