Northern has stunned the leaders Central Punjab in a dramatic turnaround as the debutant Aamir Jamal spearheaded the former National T20 Cup champions brilliant chase.
The 25-year-old Aamir Jamal produced a thrilling show with the bat as the Northern chased down a seemingly herculean 194 in the final over of the match in Lahore on Friday.
While both these teams are virtually through to the knockout phase with five wins, Northern was down and out for the count when Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Akhlaq went on the rampage after stand-in skipper Wahab Riaz had opted to bat first on a searing late afternoon.
Central Punjab’s pair shared the highest opening stand of the current edition as clattered boundaries to all parts of the ground to put on 124 in just 73 balls. Despite being out of favor from PCB’s blessing, Shehzad is still one of the best openers in the country and his innings of 77 from just 45 balls was another proof of his standing,
Shehzad who rushed to 50 in 26 balls, struck 10 fours and one six, while Akhlaq was equal to the task with an incredible 41-ball knock of 61.
The credit goes to the Northern bowlers for restricting Central Punjab to 194-5 in the end. Aamir, who bowls at a decent pace, grabbed the key wickets of Shehzad, Shoaib Malik (19 off 14), and Faheem Ashraf (12 off 7) to finish with 3-38.
Ali Imran set the stage for the chase with a ballistic 55 off only 32 deliveries. The 23-year-old right-hander, playing in his 18th T20 match, banged five sixes and three fours after the early demise of Nasir Nawaz. The opener outscored Haider Ali — who had a day to remember when he was inducted in the revised Pakistan squad for the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup — during their second-wicket stand of 92 in 56 balls.
Haider completed his 300 tournament runs before he was dismissed by the spinner Qasim Akram on 37 that included three fours and a six. After Umar Amin who has taken over the beacon from Shadab Khan for the rest of the tournament and Mubasir Khan (22 off 14, two sixes) went, the game was very much in favor of the fielding side.
However, Aamir (27 off 14, five fours) and Rohail Nazir (26 off 13, three fours, and one six), however, had other ideas. They guided Northern over the line with the partnership yielding 50 in just 25 balls when Rohail Nazir slapped Faheem for the winning boundary to wind it up.
Meanwhile, the Sindh added to the miseries of the already afflicted Southern Punjab as Sharjeel Khan hammered a sensational 54-ball century and the Sindh bowlers defended a daunting total of 196 empathically to knock Southern Punjab out with a 45-run victory.
SP continue to sit at the bottom of the table while Sindh remains on top with 10 points, ensuring a top-four finish.
Scoreboard
CENTRAL PUNJAB:
Ahmed Shehzad b Aamir 77
Mohammad Akhlaq b Sohail 61
Hussain Talat b Zaman 11
Shoaib Malik c Ali Imran b Aamir 19
Faheem Ashraf c Rohail b Aamir 12
Saif Badar not out 8
Mohammad Faizan not out 1
EXTRAS (W-3, NB-2) 5
TOTAL (for five wkts, 20 overs) 194
FALL OF WKTS: 1-124, 2-150, 3-158, 4-184, 5-185.
DID NOT BAT: Qasim Akram, Wahab Riaz, Zafar Gohar, Waqas Maqsood.
BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir 4-0-36-1; Zaman Khan 4-0-29-1 (1nb, 1w); Salman Irshad
4-0-56-0; Nauman Ali 4-0-35-0; Aamir Jamal 4-0-38-3 (1nb, 1w).
NORTHERN:
Nasir Nawaz c Malik b Faheem 10
Ali Imran c Akhlaq b Hussain 55
Haider Ali c Zafar b Qasim 37
Umar Amin c Shehzad b Qasim 13
Mubasir Khan c Zafar b Hussain 22
Aamir Jamal not out 27
Rohail Nazir not out 26
EXTRAS (LB-1, W-4) 5
TOTAL (for five wkts, 19.3 overs) 195
FALL OF WKTS: 1-10, 2-102, 3-106, 4-125, 5-145.
DID NOT BAT: Sohail Tanvir, Nauman Ali, Salman Irshad, Zaman Khan.
BOWLING: Faheem Ashraf 3.3-0-40-1; Waqas Maqsood 4-0-42-0 (2w); Wahab Riaz 4-0-41-0 (1w); Zafar Gohar 2-0-20-0; Hussain Talat 4-0-36-2 (1w); Qasim Akram 2-0-15-2.
RESULT: Northern won by five wickets.
UMPIRES: Asif Yaqoob and Rashid Riaz.
TV UMPIRE: Waleed Yaqub.
MATCH REFEREE: Ali Naqvi.
PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Aamir Jamal (Northern).
