Falcons, Wolves reach semi-finals

KARACHI: Younis Khan struck an unbeaten fifty to put Abbottabad Falcons in the semi-finals as they defeated Karachi Zebras by four wickets in the fourth and last quarter-final of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup at the Pindi Stadium in Rawalpindi on Friday.

The former Pakistan captain, who had also scored fifties in his team’s previous two games, struck 55 not out off just 35 balls to enable Falcons to race to the 130-run target with five balls to spare.

Falcons, who have qualified for the semi-finals for the first time, had a nice start with openers Yasir Hameed (15) and Hammad Ali (20) playing some delightful shots.

Medium pacer Tariq Haroon gave a breakthrough to Zebras when he had Yasir caught by Rumman Raees in the deep. Yasir hit three fours from 18 balls.

Tariq then removed Hammad and left-hander Adnan Raees (0) in one over to leave Falcons at 56-3 in nine overs. Hammad hit two fours in his 25-ball innings.

Riaz Kail (19) added 36 runs for the fourth wicket with Younis before he was caught at deep mid-on by Akbar-ur-Rehman off off-spinner Haris Ayaz.

Soon afterwards, Akbar removed Khalid Usman (1) and Shakeel Ahmed (4), which left Falcons at 110-6 in 17.2 overs.

Yasir Shah then joined Younis (7*) and the duo made 23 runs from 11 balls to take their team home comfortably.

Younis, who held one end, played some surperb shots. In the 18th over, bowled by Akbar-ur-Rehman, Younis hit a superb boundary towards onside and then a six over square-leg to make things easier for Falcons.

Falcons needed just one off the last over and Yasir hit Tabish Khan for a four off his first ball to bring a fine victory for Falcons.

Man-of-the-match Younis, who is the leading scorer of the event so far with 190 from four matches, hammered six fours and a six in his fantastic innings.

Tariq bowled superbly, ending with 3-14 in four overs. Akbar picked 2-21 in two overs. Haris claimed 1-25 in three overs.

After electing to bat first, Karachi Zebras had a poor start as they lost Fakhar Zaman (4) and Akbar-ur-Rehman (10) with 22-2 on the board. Fakhar was run out, while Akbar edged pacer Ahmed Jamal to keeper Hammad Ali.

Skipper Faisal Iqbal (43) and Hasan Raza (47) then played with great maturity and added 77 runs for the third wicket.

Left-arm spinner Khalid Usman gave the vital breakthrough when he bowled Faisal. The right-hander went for a sweep shot, missed it and the ball rattled the stumps.

Faisal hammered three fours and two sixes in one over of leggie Yasir Shah in his 34-ball knock. Left-arm Test pacer Junaid Khan then got rid of Tariq Haroon (2) and Hasan Raza in one over to reduce Zebras to 112-5. Hasan, who was superbly caught by Yasir Shah at point, clobbered four fours from 53 deliveries.

Junaid then dismissed Javed Mansoor (8) on the last ball of the innings as Zebras were restricted to 129-6. Fahad Iqbal remained not out on eight.

Junaid, who conceded 13 runs in the last over, got 3-17 in four overs. Ahmed Jamal (1-28) and Khalid Usman (1-19) also bowled well.

Earlier at the same venue, in the third quarter-final, the Super Eight T20 champions Faisalabad Wolves overwhelmed debutants Larkana Bulls by 33 runs thanks to splendid performance from off-spin wizard Saeed Ajmal and young medium pacer Asad Ali.

Ajmal picked 4-14 in 3.5 overs, while Asad Ali claimed 2-3 in three overs to enable Wolves to dismiss Larkana Bulls for 88 in 18.5 overs after they had been set a target of 122.

Ayaz Jamali scored 36-ball 34, smashing three fours and a six. Mohammad Waqas (11) and Ghulam Yasin (11) were the only others who entered double figures.

Ajmal and Asad were ably supported by rookie Test pacer Ehsan Adil, who captured 2-16 in four overs.

After being invited to bat, Faisalabad Wolves perished for only 121 in the allotted 20 overs.

Farrukh Shehzad struck 43-ball 38 with four fours. Imran Khalid in the end smashed 14-ball 18 with two boundaries.

Test keeper Mohammad Salman belted 16-ball 15 with two fours, while skipper Misbah-ul-Haq got run out for 19-ball 16, in which he hit one four and a six.

Medium fast Mohammad Siddique, who was making his debut, picked 3-25 in four overs. Imtiaz Ali (2-24) and Ali Mudassir (1-19) were the other successful bowlers.

Asad Ali was adjudged man-of-the-match.

In the semi-finals, on Saturday (today), Islamabad Leopards will face holders Lahore Lions at 12pm, while Abbottabad Falcons will lock horns with former champions Faisalabad Wolves at 4pm.