Khushdil stars as Royals down Tigers by five wickets in high-scoring affair

Khushdil Shah’s blistering 56-run knock from 22 balls helped Mirpur Royals beat Muzaffarabad Tigers by five wickets despite Mohammad Hafeez’s century on Friday in Kashmir Premier League (KPL).

Chasing a mammoth 228-run target, Sharjeel Khan and Mukhtar Ahmed made an aggressive start. Mukhtar departed for 30 on the last ball of powerplay.

Sharjeel was also dismissed in the next over by Anwar Ali after scoring 21 in 14 balls.

Royals captain Shoaib Malik combined with Mohammad Akhlaq for 85-run partnership in just 42 balls, before Akhlaq was trapped lbw by Arsalan Arif for 42. Malik didn’t stay long for either as he was caught on the bowling of Sohail Tanvir for 46. He hit one six 5 fours in his 27-ball knock.

After Malik’s departure, Khushdil Shah took responsibility and scored a brisk fifty in just 19 balls to take Royals over the finish line with two balls to spare.

Batting first, Muzaffarabad Tigers scored 227/6 in their allotted 20 overs.

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Centurion from the last match, Zeeshan Ashraf, combined for a 108-run partnership with Mohammad Hafeez. Ashraf gave an ideal platform to Tigers scoring a blistering 49-run knock from 27 balls.

Ashraf was bowled by Shadab Majeed but that didn’t stop Hafeez from accelerating as continued to up the ante. The veteran all-rounder scored 10 sixes and five fours in his 110-run innings from 55 balls, before he was dismissed in the 16^th over by Shadab Majeed.

Mohammad Wasim Jnr (19 runs in 12 balls) and Anwar Ali (22 runs in 12 balls) capitalized on the perfect platform set by Hafeez and played late cameos to take Tigers to the highest total of this season’s KPL.