Islamabad, Sialkot storm into semis

LAHORE - Islamabad Leopards pushed the Multan Tigers to their den to qualify for the semi-final of the RBS Twenty20 Cup here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Monday night.

Islamabad won the match by six wickets and Ashar Zaidi turned out to be the star of the match with his quick-fire 42 off 18 balls that ensured the target in the required overs and the man of the match award for him.

Sialkot Stallions and Karachi Dolphins were the first to reach the semi-finals of the T20 Cup while the remaining two teams will be finalised after the last match of the Monday, which was to start at night. Lahore Lions were playing Rawalpindi Rams to decide the fourth semi-finalist.

Leopards started their chase in tits and bits in 17.3 overs and managed 142 runs for the loss of four wickets in 17.2 overs.

And all eyes were set on Leopards upper order to achieved the score in the required overs.

Raheel Majeed and Umair Khan began cautiously but lasted together till the score reached 18 and the former was back to the pavilion after scoring seven runs. Bazid Khan came in to support Umair and showed impressive hitting with four boundaries. He made 25 off 29 balls and left Umair to have Naeem Anjum at the other end. Both these players took the score from 73 for three to 105 for four before the former was back to the pavilion scoring useful 37 off 25 balls.

Anjum made 18 and Ashar Zaidi 42 to take Leopards to close to the target which was completed by Asher with Rauf Akbar (7). Islamabad Leopards with Akhtar in the attack allowed Tigers reach 141 for eight in 20 overs. Akhtar who struggled in his team's opening match, began with a maiden over and later in his three over conceded 14 runs for just one wicket. He preferred line instead of speed and succeeded in halting the flow of runs. Though they applied break to Tigers score but they required to reach the target in 17.3 overs to qualify for the semi-final. After the fall of two quick wickets, Shoaib Maqsood 44 and Saeed Anwar Junior 34 to keep the scoreboard ticking.

Later, Bilal Khilji 26 and Imranullah 14 with some hard hitting took the total to some respect. Rao Iftikhar and Imad Wasim shared two wickets each while Rauf Akbar had one.

Dolphins down Rhinos

Karachi Dolphins were the second team to reach the semi-final of the RBS Twenty Cup beating Abbottabad Rhions by six wickets here on day three at the Gaddafi Stadium on Monday. The Dolphins attack proved too strong for Rhinos who did not let them cross 96 runs in 20 overs while they lost nine wickets. Wajid Ali made 15, Adnan Raees 30 and Fawad Khan 11 were prominent scorers. Faraz Ahmed and Tahir Khan with three and two wicket were lethal in the attack after Malik Aftab and Tanvir Ahmed bowled out their openers.

Chasing the modest total, achieved the score losing four wickets in 16.3 overs. Asad Shafiq 11, Afsar Nawaz 33 not out, Shahid Afridi 26 and Sarfraz Ahmed 19 not out completed the score and their teams stride in to the semi-final berth. Rashid Mansoor and Junaid Khan got two and one wicket respectively.

Stallions in semis

Sialkot Stallions qualified for the semi-final after beating Hyderabad Hawks by eight wickets in National Twenty20 Cricket Tournament at Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore on Monday.

Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Hyderabad Hawks set 142 runs targets for Sialkot Stallions. Riwzan Ahmed top scored 57 not out and Taj Wisan made 37 runs for Hyderabad. Kashmir Raza and Abdul Rehman got two wickets each.

In reply, Sialkot Stallions chased the target in 19.2 overs for the loss of two wickets. Captain Shoaib Malik led from the front and scored fluent 61 runs while Kamran Younis made 65 runs.

Karman Younis was adjudged man of match for magnificent display of batting.

HAWKS VS STALLIONS

HYDERABAD HAWKS INNINGS     R     B     4S     6S

Faisal Athar lbw Kashif     2     7     0     0

Taj Malik b Rehman     37     34     5    0

Hanif Malik c Ansar b Malik     19     21     1     0

Rizwan Ahmed not out     57     34     4     3

Shahid Qambrani c Malik b Kasif     14     16     1     0

Nauman Ali c Naeemuddin b Rehman     7     5     0     0

Khadim Hussain not out     3     3     0     0

Did not bat: Pir Zulfiqar, Farhan Ayub, Lal Kumar, Aslam Sattar

EXTRAS: (W- 2, NB- 0, LB- 1, B- 0)     3   

TOTAL: (20 Overs  5 wickets)     142   

Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-54, 3-58, 4-93, 5-107

BOWLING:

Sarfaraz Ahmad     4-0-32-0

Kasif Raza     4-0-23-2

Shoaib Malik     4-0-24-1

Abdur Rehman     4-0-24-2

Mansoor Amjad     1-0-6-0