Umair Masood and Shadab Majeed guide Northern to nine-wicket win in Cricket Associations T20 tournament

An unbeaten 102 from Umair Masood and six wickets from Shadab Majeed helped Northern to a nine-wicket win over Central Punjab in the 15^th and last fixture of the Cricket Associations T20 tournament at the Bugti Stadium in Quetta on Wednesday.

After being put into bat, Central Punjab scored 210 for eight on the back of half-centuries from Imran Dogar (68 off 44, six fours, three sixes) and Mohammad Irfan Khan (59 off 32, four fours, four sixes). The pair added 104 runs for the fourth-wicket.

Right-arm fast Shadab picked six wickets for 31 in four overs.

In return, Northern chased down the target in the 18^th over. The only wicket they lost was of opener Taimoor Sultan for 45 who struck six fours and one six. Umair top-scored with an unbeaten 102 off 54, which included 14 fours and four sixes.

Umair and Taimoor added 118 runs for the first-wicket, while Umair was involved in the 93 unbeaten runs for the second-wicket with Sarmad Hameed (50 not out, 20 balls, six fours, one six).

Sindh clinched the title last evening due to a better net run-rate compared to Southern Punjab who remained second on the table with eight points. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ended-up as third best team after three wins from five outings, while defending champions Central Punjab finished fourth with two wins.

Northern after today’s win got fifth spot with two wins, while Balochistan ended on the last in the table, they did not win any match in the tournament.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Aamer Azmat was the highest run-getter in the tournament with 242 runs from four matches. The right-handed batter scored at an average of 60.50 with three half-centuries to his name.

Amongst the bowlers, Northern’s Zaman Khan picked nine wickets from three matches. The 20-year old right-arm fast best figures was four for 38. Asif Afridi from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Kaleemullah Khan from Southern Punjab also grabbed nine wickets each.

Scores in brief

Northern beat Central Punjab by nine wickets

Central Punjab 210-8, 20 overs (Imran Dogar 68, Mohammad Irfan Khan 59; Shadab Majeed 6-31)

Northern 211-1, 17.2 overs (Umair Masood 102 not out, Sarmad Hameed 50 not out, Taimoor Sultan 45)