After getting off to a poor start in the National T20 Cup, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa registered their second consecutive win in the tournament after a narrow six-run win against Southern Punjab in Multan Cricket Stadium on Sunday. After Shaheen Afridi picked up 5/20 in the previous game against Balochistan to give Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by eight wickets, it was the duo of Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Hafeez who led from the front yet again.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

In this game against Southern Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were inserted in but they got off to a great start with Mohammad Hafeez smashing five fours and five sixes as he smashed 67 and shared a 100-run stand with skipper Mohammad Rizwan. Hafeez was given good support from Iftikhar Ahmed as he smashed 45 to help Khyber reach 200/5.

In response, Sohaib Maqsood hammered 77 which included six fours and five sixes but it was Junaid Khan’s 3/26 that sealed the game for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as they sealed a tense win.

National T20 Cup becomes intense

There have been some close encounters in the National T20 Cup. In the third game, Balochistan defeated Sindh by two runs while Northern defeated Southern Punjab by 27 runs.

After Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lost their first game by 79 runs, they have bounced back in style while Northern got the better of Central Punjab.

Northern have won three out of their three games and are on top of the National T20 Cup with six points followed by Khyber Pankhtunkhwa are in second place. Sindh are in third place while Central Punjab and Southern Punjab are in fourth and sixth place. Balochistan are in fifth place.