Shan, Abbas shine in Southern Punjab’s victory over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Southern Punjab won the toss and opted to bowl first, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were reduced to 74 for four at one stage with pacer Mohammad Abbas making early inroads. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were revived by a 76-run fifth-wicket partnership between Mohammad Haris and Adil Amin (39). The young wicketkeeper-batsman Haris scored 54 off 58 balls (eight fours, one six).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa captain Khalid Usman made another handy lower-order contribution by top-scoring for his side with a 56-run innings. The right-hander hit seven fours and two sixes in his 50-ball innings.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were bowled out for 244 in 45.5 overs, Abbas finished with figures of 9.5-0-40-4 Leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood bowled a tidy spell taking two wickets for 28 runs in his 10 overs.

Skipper Shan Masood led from the front in Southern Punjab’s chase as the left-hander scored 91 off 112 balls (nine fours) to anchor his team’s chase. Shan added 73 runs for the first-wicket with Mukhtar Ahmed (36).

Left-hander Khushdil Shah then closed out the game in Southern Punjab’s favour with a run-a-ball 71; his innings was laced with six fours and two sixes.

Southern Punjab completed the chase with 10 balls to spare for the loss of five wickets. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are now placed at number three in the points table a place below Southern Punjab, both  teams have eight points.

Scores in brief:

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 244 all out, 45.5 overs (Khalid Usman 56, Mohammad Haris 54, Adil Amin 39, Musadiq Ahmed 37; Mohammad Abbas 4-40, Zahid Mahmood 2-28)

Southern Punjab 246-5, 48.2 overs (Shan Masood 91, Khushdil Shah 71, Mukhtar Ahmed 36; Khalid Usman 1-29)

Players-of-the-Match: Mohammad Abbas and Shan Masood