Southern Punjab’s six-wicket win keeps semi-final battle alive

Sohaib Maqsood struck form at the right time as his unbeaten half-century helped Southern Punjab beat table toppers Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by six wickets in the 28^th fixture of the National T20 Cup 2022-23 at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Friday evening.

The right-handed Sohaib coming to bat at number three belted seven fours and three sixes in an unbeaten knock of 61 from 44 balls. He knitted a 68-run partnership for the third wicket with captain Salman Ali Agha (33, 28b, six fours) and helped his side achieve the target with 29 balls to spare.

Southern Punjab’s victory has opened up the tournament with eight points from nine matches. It can still make it to the semi-final by winning tomorrow’s game against Northern – who are languishing at the bottom of the table with eight points from nine matches.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lost wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out on the final delivery of the 20^th over. Kamran Ghulam – who top-scored for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a 40-ball 54, struck one four and four towering sixes. He added 52 runs for the seventh wicket with skipper Khalid Usman (16 off 18, one six).

For Southern Punjab, Hassan Khan was the most successful bowler with match figures of 4-1-21-3. He was equally supported by right-arm fast Mohammad Ilyas who bagged two wickets for 39 runs.

Scores in brief:

Southern Punjab beat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by six wickets

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 133 all out, 20 overs (Kamran Ghulam 54; Hassan Khan 3-21, Mohammad Ilyas 2-39)

Southern Punjab 136-4, 15.1 overs (Sohaib Maqsood 61 not out, Salman Ali Agha 33, Umar Siddiq 26)

Player of the match – Sohaib Maqsood (Southern Punjab)

Saturday’s fixtures:

Balochistan v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 1500

Northern v Southern Punjab at 1930

Points table