Abdullah Asjad
ISLAMABAD-As many as 190 sixes and 484 fours were smashed over 10 days of cricket during the National T20 Cup at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium.
Batsmen from Northern, the title winners, hit 30 per cent of the sixes, thanks to Asif Ali. The hard-hitting middle-order batsman hit 19 off his side’s 56 sixes, with 10 of them coming in an innings. Runner-up Balochistan struck 109 fours, which were the most by any side in the tournament.
The batsmen’s domination continued over the course of 18 matches. 5,448 runs were scored as 26 half-centuries and two centuries – both from Central Punjab batsmen Babar Azam and Ahmed Shehzad – were cracked.
Boasting a star-studded bowling lineup which included Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Imad Wasim, Musa Khan and Haris Rauf, Northern were expected to be the strongest bowling unit of the tournament. They lived up to their reputation taking the most number of wickets for a team with 59 scalps. Overall, 221 wickets were taken in the tournament.
Reviewing his team’s performance, Northern captain Imad Wasim said: “Our batting and bowling was way ahead of the other teams and to win such tournaments all members of the side need to rise to the occasion which the players of my team did.
“Though this was a domestic tournament, we played for our pride.” As T20 format is never expected to be bowler friendly, only one five-wicket haul was recorded in the tournament, which went to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Usman Shinwari.
The left-arm fast-bowler took five wickets for 13 runs against Northern in the first semi-final of the tournament, which his side lost by three runs. His captain Mohammad Rizwan bagged the player of the tournament award for scoring 215 runs, with two fifties, and dismissing six batsmen behind the stumps in six matches.
The best batsman and best bowler of the tournament were Awais Zia and Sohail Tanvir for scoring 276 runs and taking 14 wickets in seven matches each. Pakistan U19 captain and Northern wicketkeeper-batsman Rohail Nazir bagged the best wicketkeeper award with seven dismissals in seven matches.
