Fakhar stars as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Central Punjab by 29 runs

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa registered their fourth consecutive victory as they beat Central Punjab by 29 runs in the ongoing National T20 Cup in Multan on Tuesday.

Chasing a target of 179 runs, Central Punjab suffered an early setback when they lost their in-form opener Abid Ali in the first over of the innings for five.

Right-hand batsmen Abdullah Shafique continued to impress as he stitched a 92-run partnership with Kamran Akmal to keep the chase on track.

All-rounder Shoaib Malik broke the important stand as he removed Akmal for 47. Soon after Akmal’s dismissal, pacer Arshad Iqbal claimed the crucial scalp of Shafique, who scored 43 runs off 37 balls.

Following Akmal and Shafique’s departure, Central Punjab kept losing wickets at regular intervals as they were bowled out for 149 and suffered their fourth defeat of the tournament.

Earlier, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa scored 178/7 in their allotted 20 overs after electing to bat first.

Following his fifty against Sindh yesterday, opener Fakhar Zaman played a scintillating 66-run knock from 42 balls, which included three fours and five sixes, to give an ideal start to the batting side.

KPK captain Mohammad Rizwan was also looking in ominous form but was dismissed for 23 by off-spinner Qasim Akram. Veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez couldn’t continue his rich vein of form as he was stumped for 17 by Akmal on the bowling of leg-spinner Usman Qadir.

Left-handed all-rounder Asif Afridi provided impetus to the inning with a quick fire 20 from 7 balls before Shoaib Malik’s unbeaten 27-run knock took KPK to a competitive total.

Pacer Ahmed Bashir was the pick of the bowlers for Central Punjab as he bagged three wickets towards the later part of the innings.