Northern down Central Punjab by 35 runs in their National Twenty20 (T20) Cup encounter at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 156 runs, Central Punjab lost their prolific opener Kamran Akmal early for one run off six balls after being bowled by pacer Haris Rauf.

Batsmen Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique scored 36 (33) and 20 (12) to provide a solid foundation for Central Punjab before fast-bowler Musa Khan removed both batsmen. 

All-rounder Shadab Khan then removed batsmen Rizwan Hussain and Saad Nasim after both batsmen scored 14 runs respectively.

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A succession of wickets followed as Central Punjab’s innings was wrapped up in 18.1 overs after scoring 120 runs.

Northern’s fast-bowlers Musa Khan and Haris picked up 3 wickets each while giving away 23 runs and 26 runs respectively.

Earlier, Central Punjab won the toss and elected to field first. The move paid dividends as the bowlers bowled disciplined lines and lengths to negate a fast start from the Northern batsmen. Openers Zeeshan Malik and Ali Imran scored 20 (30) and 15 (19) respectively.

Pakistan’s rising star Haider Ali could only contribute 3 runs off 6 balls before being removed by leg-spinner Usman Qadir. All-rounder Shadab Khan and batsman Umar Amin tried to up the ante with scores of 30 off 17 balls and 21 off 14 balls respectively.

Middle-order batsman Asif Ali followed suit with a cameo of 24 runs off 11 balls before falling to bowler Ehsan Adil. Wicketkeeper Rohail Nazir played a blistering knock of 21 off just 8 balls to propel his side to 155 for the loss of eight wickets at the end of their allotted 20 overs.

Shadab Khan was named the player of the match for his contributions with both bat and ball.