Karachi Zebras crash out, Dolphins, Tigers advance

LAHORE - Karachi Dolphins, Rawalpindi Rams, Multan Tigers and Hyderabad Hawks had the last laugh on day two of the RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) National Twenty20 Cup here on Sunday.

Rams overcame Quetta Bears, Multan Tigers routed Peshawar Panthers, Hawks upset Karachi Zebras and Faisalabad Wolves gave away the match to Karachi Dolphins in one of the toughest matches of the event so far.

Karachi Zebras lost their second match of the RBS National Twenty20 Cup by 30 runs here on the second day of the event when Hyderabad Hawks not only brought them down here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday but also pushed them out of their race for the knock out stage.

Hawks did their best in getting 169 for four in 20 overs and later allowed the Zebras score 139 for nine in 20 overs. After early losses of wickets, Rizwan Ahmed lifted the score to some authority by adding 43 balls 57 at a crucial stage when three of his mates were already in the pavilion. He was also lucky to get support from the other end from Shahid Qambrani 48 not out and Khadim Shah later joined Kambarani till the end making useful 21. Tabish Khan with two wickets while Fahad Khan and Abdul Ameer with one wicket each could stop the Hawks runs flow.

However, Hawks bowlers, particularly Faisal Ather and Aslam Sattar, dented the Zebras batting order with back to back three and two wickets respectively. They were supported by Nauman Ali with another two wickets and Pir Zulfiqar got one to further the Zebras misery. Only Shadab Kabeer with 37 and Zhahzab Hasan 61 off 32 ball set the target easy but their following players fell easy pray to the spin of Aslam and Ather. Rizwan Amed was declared the man of the match. The match between Lahore Eagles and Abttottabad Rhinos was underway at the Gaddafi Stadium on late Sunday night. Zebras and Bears were out of contention while Wolves have to fight out for a place to stay in the tournament.

Wolves could not make the target and lost the match by nine runs, mainly due to some good bowling from Dolphins and Misbah-ul-Haq's mistake of taking a single when he should have taken the strike himself in the last over. Wolves made 147 for five.

Misbah hit three breath-taking sixes to take Wolves near victory and on the last ball of the 19th over went for the single to face the last over. After missing two balls, he hit a four and then took a single of the following ball when nine runs were still needed for a win off two balls and so gifted the match to Dolphins as his batting partner missed both the balls. Had he stayed for batting he might have got the win for Wolves.

Dolphins decided to bat after winning the toss and went on to make 155 losing all of their wickets. Pakistan national team captaincy aspirant Shahid Afridi contributed 28 runs of 12 balls but major contribution came from Khurrum Manzoor 34 while Khalid Latif got 22 and Tariq Haroon 18.

The Wolves bowling attack did give their team some upper hand with Mohammad Talha, it was later Saed Ajmal who took three with expensive output of 37 runs. Asad Ali had two for 34 and Ahmed Hayat two for 27. And Mohammad Hafeez snared one.

However, the initiative provided by Wolves bowlers was lost by their batsmen when Hafeez and Asif Hussain was back to the pavilion with nothing to cherish for. They made two and 13 respectively. But Muhammad Salman held the fort for Wolves with his brisk 48 along with Ammar Mahmud.

Misbah-ul-Haq joined the crease with Ammar and both went on to take the fight in the Dolphins end with singles and double, besides having boundaries on loose balls. But Ammar lost his wicket to Shahid Afridi for 20 leaving Misbah to bear the pressure match in the 16th over with more than 50 runs still to be scored in nearly four overs. The next batsman Khurrum Shahzad was also stumped for 11 off Afridi at the total of 120 in the 18th over.

Besides Afridi and Sohail Khan's two each, Anwar Ali and Faraz Ahmed got one wickets.

HAWKS VS ZEBRAS SCOREBOARD

HYDERABAD HAWKS, 1st inning:     R    B    4s    6s

Aqeel Anjum c Zeeshan b Tabish    9    14    1    0