Rawalpindi (SBR): A sparking hundred from opener Yasir Ali and another brilliant bowling display by Mohammad Ali guided ABL Stallions to Bahria Town Champions T20 Cup title with a thumping 75-run win over UMT Markhors in the final at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Yasir cracked a 57-ball 100 with seven towering sixes and five boundaries to propel Stallions to 199-5 in 20 overs before Ali destroyed Markhors with 3-19 restricting them to 124 all out in 19.1 overs. Stallions have added another title in Pakistan’s T20 history while UMT Markhors have lost their second final, having also lost the Champions Cup one-day final in Faisalabad in September this year.
Chasing a daunting 200-run target, Markhors lost wickets at regular intervals. They relied heavily on Fakhar Zaman who failed to follow up his belligerent 89 in the Qualifiers, falling for 20 to Jahandad Khan who finished with 2-31. Spinner Usman Tariq took 2-10 in his four tight overs.
Mohammad Faizan smashed three sixes and as many fours in his 33-ball 43 while skipper Iftikhar Ahmed scored 21-ball 22. Markhors' promising players Abdul Samad and Saad Masood failed to score that summed up their team’s below-par batting. It was Yasir all the way in ABL Stallions’ innings after they opted to bat with an idea to put a solid total on the board.
Maaz Sadaqat hit the first ball of the innings from Mohammad Nawaz for a six while Yasir smashed two more maximums to show clear intentions. Pacer Akif Javed, pick of the bowlers with 2-32, dismissed Maaz in the third over to bring UMT Markhors back in the match.
UMT Markhors had an ideal opportunity to get Yasir out on 12 but Akif Javed dropped a skier off Nisar Ahmed and it cost them dearly. Yasir benefitted with smashing ways, adding 41 for the second wicket with skipper Mohammad Haris whose 15-ball 21 had two sixes. Hussain Talat managed just nine, while Tayyab Tahir scored 17 runs.
Yasir, the 22-year-old from Bannu in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, reached his half-century off 33 balls with a six off Nawaz and then lifted the tempo. From 88 he smashed two sixes to reach his second T20 century off 56 balls. He later holed out off Mohammad Faizan.
Jahandad Khan cracked two sixes and a boundary in his ten-ball 22 not out to get Stallions to 199-5 in 20 overs. Ali finished as the top bowler with 22 wickets, admirably starring in his team’s triumph in the tournament.
