Khyber Pakhtunkhwa defeat Central Punjab to win the final of the Pakistan Cup 2021

[MenInG]

• Winners to bag PKR5million, runners-up prize PKR2.5million; PKR1million to be equally shared between best performers

Karachi, 7 January 2021:

Following the completion of first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which produced high-quality red-ball action, the focus has now shifted to white-ball cricket as the Pakistan Cup commences on 8 January.

The 33-match tournament, to be played on double-league basis, will be staged at three Karachi venues – NBP Sports Complex, State Bank Stadium and UBL Sports Complex. State Bank Stadium will host the two semi-finals on 29 and 30 January and the final on 31 January.

The tournament carries nearly PKR10million in prize money as the PCB continues to incentive top-performers. The tournament winners will bag PKR5million, while the runners-up will pocket PKR2.5million.

The best performers of the tournament – Player of the Tournament, Best Batsman, Best Bowler and Best Wicketkeeper – will equally share PKR1million amongst them and PKR800,000 will be handed to 32 players who receive Man of the Match award in group matches and semi-finals. The Player of the Final will receive PKR35,000.

Meanwhile, the six head coaches have finalised their 16-player squads, in which opportunities have been provided to those young cricketers who have given impressive performances over the course of the 2020-21 domestic season.

After helping his team stage an outstanding comeback in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Hasan Ali will continue to lead Central Punjab, who shared the title with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the final ended in an epic tie. The squad consists all 11 players who played the final along with Ahmed Bashir, Bilal Asif, Rizwan Hussain, Sohaibullah and Tayyab Tahir.

Khalid Usman will remain at helm of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa team and will have hard-hitting top-order batsman Fakhar Zaman, the leading run-scorer in the National T20 Cup, as his deputy. Head coach Abdul Razzaq has retained the in-form batsman Kamran Ghulam and Sajid Ali, the leading run-scorer and wicket-taker of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

Balochistan will be led by veteran batsman Imran Farhat and he will have wicketkeeper-batsman Bismillah Khan as his vice-captain. Head coach Faisal Iqbal has put his faith in 18-year-old Quetta-born Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, a Pakistan U19 player, who has had an impressive 2020-21 domestic season. In his most recent outing for his Balochistan, Abdul Wahid was the fourth highest run-getter in the Pakistan Cup for Second XIs with 187 runs in five matches – including a half-century – at 37.40.

Mohammad Masroor, Northern’s interim head coach, has named all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz as the captain of his team. After enjoying resounding success with both bat and ball in the 2020-21 domestic season, which included a century on first-class debut and player of the tournament awards in both one-day and three-day U19 tournaments, Mubasir Khan is in line to make his List A debut as he was named one of the 16 players in the Northern squad.

After finishing the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy at the bottom, Sindh will be eager to stage a comeback. Head coach Basit Ali has named Saud Shakeel the captain of the side. Sixteen-year-old off-spinner Aaliyan Mehmood has been rewarded for his sensational returns in the one-day and three-day U19 tournaments. Aaliyan was the third best bowler in the both tournaments taking 24 wickets 15.67 in one-day and 20 scalps at 25.55 in three-day.

Middle-order batsman Sohaib Maqsood will lead Southern Punjab, the finalists of the National T20 Cup. Southern Punjab’s leading run-scorer in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, in which they finished third, Salman Ali Agha will be Sohaib’s deputy. Their fast bowling department got a shot in the arm following the addition of Aaron Summers, while they have included Mukhtar Ahmed and Waqar Hussain, the top two run-getters of the Pakistan Cup for Second XI teams, who played a vital role in Southern Punjab winning that tournament.

Squads

Balochistan – Imran Farhat (c), Bismillah Khan (vc), Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Adnan Akmal, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Ali Rafiq, Awais Zia, Ayaz Tasawar, Gohar Faiz, Jalat Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Nazar Hussain, Raza-ul-Hasan, Taimoor Ali, Taj Wali and Umaid Asif

Central Punjab – Hasan Ali (c), Ahmed Bashir, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Ali Shan (wk), Ali Zaryab, Bilal Asif, Bilawal Iqbal, Muhammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Saad, Qasim Akram, Rizwan Hussain, Saad Nasim, Sohaibullah, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Salahuddin and Waqas Maqsood

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – Khalid Usman (c), Fakhar Zaman (vc), Adil Amin, Arshad Iqbal, Asif Afridi, Imran Khan Snr, Irfanullah Shah, Israrullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Mohsin, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Musadiq Ahmed, Rehan Afridi (wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Sajid Khan and Usman Shinwari

Northern – Mohammad Nawaz (c), Aamer Jamal, Ali Imran, Asif Ali, Athar Mehmood, Faizan Riaz, Hammad Azam, Jamal Anwar, Mubasir Khan, Muhammad Ismail, Nasir Nawaz, Nauman Ali, Salman Irshad, Sohail Tanvir, Taimoor Sultan and Umar Amin

Sindh – Saud Shakeel (c), Aaliyan Mahmood, Abrar Ahmed, Anwar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Ghulam Mudassar, Hassan Khan, Khurram Manzoor, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Azam Khan, Mohammad Umar, Omair Bin Yousaf, Saad Ali, Shahnawaz Dhani and Sharjeel Khan

Southern Punjab – Sohaib Maqsood (c), Salman Ali Agha (vc), Aamer Yamin, Aaron Summers, Ali Shafiq, Mohammad Ilyas, Muhammad Imran, Mukhtar Ahmed, Rahat Ali, Saif Badar, Umar Khan, Umar Siddiq Khan, Waqar Hussain, Zahid Mahmood, Zain Abbas and Zeeshan Ashraf

[MenInG]

[RehanG]

So matches at the state bank stadium will be televised.

[ataullah]

No Shaheens players. Why? Getting selected?

[Markhor]

Looking forward to this. Last year's Pakistan Cup was cancelled due to the pandemic.

[Angrez Pakistani]

I feel so bad for these players. They just finished a long and exhausting QAE trophy and now they are thrown straight away into this odd tournament.

[angrypathan]

Nice to see youngsters like Imran Farhat being allowed to develop their captaincy skills

[Omer2002]

I am very confused here and hoping MENIng can clarify..I assume the matches at state bank will be televised.

The South Africa series doesnt start till 26/01/21 so what are the pakistan squad doing and mainly where are the SHAHEEN players. Surely the likes of hasnain, abdullah and Haider etc need as much practice as possible.

[angrypathan]

I feel so bad for these players. They just finished a long and exhausting QAE trophy and now they are thrown straight away into this odd tournament.

Yeah the scheduling is awful. I really hope Hassan Ali doesn't get injured playing so many games in such a short time. He's captain of his side too, so probably won't be rested either

[guldozer]

Scheduling is bad for the 2 finalists. The rest of the team have had a decent break between last QEA matches

[hitthestump]

Yeah the scheduling is awful. I really hope Hassan Ali doesn't get injured playing so many games in such a short time. He's captain of his side too, so probably won't be rested either

Hassan has stated that he'll take a couple of games off at the start.

Doubt he's the only one who's feeling it. I imagine we'll see a fair bit of rotation especially amongst the pacers.

[Omer2002]

its only one day guys..i just checked all matches on State bank will be on TV.

i can only assume players of Pak and Shaheens not included due to isolation but for that long it doesnt make sense

[Titan24]

I wont be surprised if Hassan and a few others are called up to the national squad in few days after the squad against SA is announced to complete the covid protocols before the SA series (Starting on 26th Jan). At that time I think players which are dropped from the national team should be coming into the tournament.

[Maher96]

Where tabish Khan

[Titan24]

Where tabish Khan

Averages almost 33 in List A cricket with ball and at 36 years age there is not much upside as well so I think its a fair call.

[UzmanBeast]

I am very confused here and hoping MENIng can clarify..I assume the matches at state bank will be televised.

The South Africa series doesnt start till 26/01/21 so what are the pakistan squad doing and mainly where are the SHAHEEN players. Surely the likes of hasnain, abdullah and Haider etc need as much practice as possible.

When South Africa comes, these players will most likely be in the training camps of the National Team. That's my guess.

[UzmanBeast]

I wont be surprised if Hassan and a few others are called up to the national squad in few days after the squad against SA is announced to complete the covid protocols before the SA series (Starting on 26th Jan). At that time I think players which are dropped from the national team should be coming into the tournament.

I've been hearing a lot of news buzzing around that the likes of Hasan Ali, Shajeel Khan, and Saud Shakeel will be selected for the SA series. It's just rumours at this point, but seems probable.

[Mobashir]

Why aren't the 35 players for the NZ tour in the squads?
I am sure lot of them can benefit playing in the tournament and it will also make it more competitive.

[Titan24]

I've been hearing a lot of news buzzing around that the likes of Hasan Ali, Shajeel Khan, and Saud Shakeel will be selected for the SA series. It's just rumours at this point, but seems probable.

Definitely a lot of weight in the buzz if we go by the numbers numbers. All 3 have performed as Hassan has been the best pacer, Sharjeel the best opener and Saud Shakeel the 2nd highest run scorer with decent performances in past yers too (Rated highly by the new CS as well).

[Greenstorm]

Sameen should have been there.

[UzmanBeast]

Definitely a lot of weight in the buzz if we go by the numbers numbers. All 3 have performed as Hassan has been the best pacer, Sharjeel the best opener and Saud Shakeel the 2nd highest run scorer with decent performances in past yers too (Rated highly by the new CS as well).

Personally, I think all three will get to play.

I have a hunch that Misbah will operate with Shaheen, Abbas, and Hasan, and he'll bring Yasir back as an excuse when looking at Gohar's performance in NZ.

For T20Is, we have no other option than Sharjeel Khan at this point, and I want to see if Sarfaraz gets a call-up for T20I as well.

In my opinion, Sarfaraz should be our keeper-batsman in white ball cricket and Rizwan in red-ball cricket. Look at Sarfaraz's average, it is much better than Rizwan and so is the SR. The only thing would be to determine where he plays.

He's really good at rotating the strike and plays spin well, but you don't want to push him too far down the order where he is incapable of making a difference, because he doesn't really have the gears to hit sixes and finish games.

The ideal position for him would be 4, but Hafeez is in prime form, so the next best positions are 3 and 5. Haider is being groomed for the No.3 slot, but maybe we can afford to play him lower if we have Sharjeel at the top of the order.

[Rayyman]

Good squads, I did not watch QEA, but I will try to watch this. I hope PCB puts it on YT. 50 over cricket is the best for viewers.

[jupiter2007]

There should be separate One Day cricket for 30+ players. lol geriatric cricket

[The Viper]

Poll added. Which side do you think will win the Pakistan Cup?

[hur rizvi]

Hasan Ali if he has any sense should rest and try to work on his fitness for SA call-up

[guldozer]

Not bad looking kits, were they the same kits that were used in national t20 competition.

[guldozer]

I'd have liked to have seen Hasan Mohsin in the Sindh squad. He looks tailor made for 50 over cricket and hits the ball in awkward areas. He can also play reserve sweeps, dilscoop etc.

[omairsiddiqui]

The Shaheens players are missing, aren't they? Why is that?

[Angrez Pakistani]

Why do they keep sticking with these horrible kits?

[shaaik]

Nice to see youngsters like Imran Farhat being allowed to develop their captaincy skills

I think this will be his farewell ODI tournament since he has already retired from Domestic 4days ..

[Thunderbolt14]

The Shaheens players are missing, aren't they? Why is that?

2 weeks of quarantine, I suppose. Or maybe at least a couple days plus two negative tests. NZ is covid free but the planes aren’t.

[Rayyman]

Good partnership by Sharjeel and Saud here.

[MenInG]

The fifth edition of the Pakistan Cup has begun today in Karachi, marking the first instance of the one-day tournament being played in the port city.

Southern Punjab are playing Sindh at the State Bank Stadium in a broadcast fixture. Balochistan are playing Northern at the UBL Sports Complex. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Central Punjab, who shared the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy title after an epic tie in the final at the National Stadium, are locking horns at the NBP Sports Complex.

The most successful team

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federal Areas with two title wins each are the most successful teams in the short history of the tournament.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won the maiden edition in Faisalabad in 2016 and the most recent edition in Rawalpindi in 2019 whereas Federal Areas won it in Rawalpindi in 2017 and in Faisalabad in 2018.

Federal Areas have won eight out of 13 completed matches in the tournament that takes their win percentage to 61.54 – the highest for any team.

Highest and lowest totals

Pakistan Cup is one of the highest scoring tournaments in the world as suggested by 37 totals of 300 or more in four years.

The highest total in the tournament is 385-4 by Sindh against Federal Areas in Rawalpindi in 2019.

There have also been three successful chases of 350-plus targets. Federal Areas scaled 376 against Balochistan in Rawalpindi in 2017, Balochistan chased 373 vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Faisalabad in 2018 and Punjab 366 against Balochistan in 2018.

There is only one sub-100 total in the tournament’s history. That happened in 2018 when Sindh were bowled out for 93 against Federal Areas in Faisalabad.

Most prolific batsman

Khurram Manzoor, who is in the Sindh’s squad for the 2020-21 edition of the tournament, is the only batsman with 1,000-plus runs in the tournament.

The 34-year-old has scored 1,148 runs at an average of 82.00 and a strike-rate of 122.12. The next best is Iftikhar Ahmed with 906 runs at 64.71.

Khurram is also the highest centurion in Pakistan Cup with six scores of 100 or more.

Iftikhar with four centuries is second best in this list as well.

Fastest centuries

A total of 44 centuries have been scored in the tournament.

The quickest came from Khurram Manzoor’s bat as the right-handed top-order batsman reached the 100-run mark off 56 balls while playing for Sindh against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Rawalpindi in 2017.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Khushdil Shah scored two 100s off 65 balls (against Sindh) and 66 balls (against Punjab) in the previous edition. They are second and third fastest 100s in Pakistan Cup.

The best strikers

Asif Ali has scored 453 runs at an average of 64.71 and a strike-rate of 129.42, the highest for any batsman with at least 400 runs in the tournament.

The Northern batsman has also hit two centuries.

The best strikers after Asif are Kamran Akmal (127.41), Khushdil Shah (125.14) and Khurram Manzoor (122.12).

Highest six-hitters

The batsmen with most sixes in the tournament are Sohaib Maqsood and Iftikhar Ahmed. Both batsmen have smoked 26 maximums each. 30.77 per cent of Sohaib’s all runs (509) in Pakistan Cup have come from sixes.

The next big hitters in the tournament are Akmal brothers – Kamran and Umar (25 sixes each). They are followed by Asif Ali and Khurram (24 sixes).

Most prolific bowler

Left-arm pacer Zia-ul-Haq is the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 24 scalps at an average of 24.45.

He is followed by the off-spinner Bilal Asif, who has 23 wickets at 35.17.

Balochistan’s Umar Gul, who hung his boots after the conclusion of his team’s National T20 Cup campaign earlier in the season, is next with 22 victims at 32.04.

Five-wicket hauls

Seven bowlers have taken a five-wicket haul but only one has six wickets in an innings. Waqas Maqsood, who is in the Central Punjab’s team holds record for the best figures in the tournament. The left-arm pacer, then Federal Areas’ bowler, took six wickets for 63 runs against Balochistan in Faisalabad in 2018.

Six other bowlers to take five-fers in chronological order are Mohammad Amir (five for 36), Aamer Yamin (five for 77), Imran Khan (five for 57), Faheem Ashraf (five for 45), Usman Shinwari (five for 51) and Wahab Riaz (five for 52).

Economical bowlers

Among the bowlers who have delivered at least 20 overs in the tournament, the left-arm spin of Imad Wasim has been most economical. He has bowled 35 overs for only 157 runs at an economy of 4.48.

Next best are Usman Shinwari (4.56), Wahab Riaz (4.60), Mohammad Amir (4.68) and Khalid Usman (4.92).

[shah_1]

Aaron Summers is a club level bowler

[Rayyman]

Saud gone for 60. Played a lazy square drive on the up and edged to Zeeshan.

He has great potential, but he still has to work hard on his concentration skills.

[Ahmed216]

Terrible shot from Saad to get dismissed

[Amirforpresident]

Azam Khan playing a good knock 49 off 26 so far

[Asif321]

Azam must be in T20 asap. Pakistan will need him for WT20

[Shariq7]

Does anyone know why Ali Tareen was being referred to as the owner of S. Punjab and Multan Sultans during his interview? Was it just a mistake or are the local teams in domestic cricket being privatized?

[Ahmed216]

Saud gone for 60. Played a lazy square drive on the up and edged to Zeeshan.

He has great potential, but he still has to work hard on his concentration skills.

Does not play down the ground enough as per my observation.

[MenInG]

[MenInG]

[Thunderbolt14]

Azam looked set for a 100, pretty soft dismissal. Ends up top scoring regardless, can be a good addition to the T20 team.

[RehanG]

No live streaming? No live scores, disappointed. PCB should resolve this ASAP.

[Bewal Express]

No live streaming? No live scores, disappointed. PCB should resolve this ASAP.

On YouTube

[shah_1]

Qaulity of white ball spinners is appalling in this tournament and National T20. Khushdil Shah was smashing all these spinners but was a headless chicken against Sodhi

[Ahmed216]

Bstsmen scoring between 30-70 none making a big one

[Thunderbolt14]

Saif Badar and runouts, the love story continues.

[Thunderbolt14]

Does anyone know why Ali Tareen was being referred to as the owner of S. Punjab and Multan Sultans during his interview? Was it just a mistake or are the local teams in domestic cricket being privatized?

Ali Tareen I believe is kind of running Southern Punjab from behind the scenes. He’s the one who had them sponsored by KFC and Grassroots cricket. The coach, Abdul Rehman, is Tareen’s go to guy and assistant coach at Multan Sultans. And a lot of players overlap between Southern and Multan, such as Shan and Zeeshan.

Ali Tareen’s Tareen academy is a feeder of talent into Southern Punjab as well, and he’s the one who brought Aaron Summers in.

[KoyoAli]

What a joke, Sauds captaincy had been so far. Aaliyan looked the best spinner in the overs he bowled yet he has only bowled 3 overs while Saud himself has bowled 4. Looking to impress PSL scouts perhaps.

[hitthestump]

Saud gone for 60. Played a lazy square drive on the up and edged to Zeeshan.

He has great potential, but he still has to work hard on his concentration skills.

I hope he isn't picked for SA yet. The potential is there, he needs that extra bit of work and he'll debut in a much better fashion than he would right now.

[MenInG]

[Omer2002]

Sauds Captaincy has been shocking

[Thunderbolt14]

Sauds Captaincy has been shocking

Why? His only frontline spinner, Aalyan Mehmood, is out of action. That means he’s lost control in the middle overs and has been swapping in medium pacers and part timers like himself to pretty decent effect. He’s making decent use of limited resources, don’t see anything particularly wrong with the field placements either. Nothing ingenious but nothing “shocking”.

[Ahmed216]

60 off 78 on a flat deck wasnt good enough from captain saud

[shah_1]

Qaulity of white ball spinners is appalling in this tournament and National T20. Khushdil Shah was smashing all these spinners but was a headless chicken against Sodhi

One of the reason is the lack of wrist spinners at U19 level, 95% of the bowlers are finger spinners at this level. Why can't U19 selectors understand that finger spinners are pretty much useless if they can't spin it big.

[Thunderbolt14]

So good to see a 300+ score being chased down.

[JibranAnsari]

drearth of good bowlers is alarming.

[KoyoAli]

So good to see a 300+ score being chased down.

Has been a regular occurrence in Pakistan Cup dor 2 years now. Flat pitches and small boundaries mean that even 330+ scores get chased easily

[shah_1]

drearth of good bowlers is alarming.

It is appalling to see the quality. No wonder Abdullah Shafique and Khushdil Shah looked like headless chicken. Just because 35 players are not present that doesn't mean the quality of bowling has to be this awful

[MenInG]

[MenInG]

[Shariq7]

Ali Tareen I believe is kind of running Southern Punjab from behind the scenes. He’s the one who had them sponsored by KFC and Grassroots cricket. The coach, Abdul Rehman, is Tareen’s go to guy and assistant coach at Multan Sultans. And a lot of players overlap between Southern and Multan, such as Shan and Zeeshan.

Ali Tareen’s Tareen academy is a feeder of talent into Southern Punjab as well, and he’s the one who brought Aaron Summers in.

Okay makes sense.

[hitthestump]

drearth of good bowlers is alarming.

I'm going to make an excuse here. The fast bowlers just come off a gruelling QeA trophy with not that much rest in between. The kookaburra took it's toll on the pacers this year.

[Firebat]

Karachi, 8 January 2020:

As many as five centuries were scored in the first three matches of the Pakistan Cup One-Day Tournament 2020-21 which commenced today (Friday) at three Karachi venues.

Salman Ali Agha, Umar Amin and Musaddiq Ahmed score match winning tons that earned wins for Southern Punjab, Northern and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa respectively.

Besides the trio, Central Punjab’s Saad Nasim and Muhammad Akhlaq also scored hundreds.

Southern Punjab vs Sindh, State Bank Stadium, Karachi:

Southern Punjab captain Sohaib Maqsood won the toss and asked Sindh to bat first, opener Sharjeel Khan (44 off 38, three fours, three sixes) provided the side a flying start after the early loss of Khurram Manzoor (1).

Captain Saud Shakeel and Asad Shafiq added 66 runs for the third-wicket before Asad fell to Aaron Summers for 45 (46 balls, five fours).

Wicketkeeper batsman than upped the scoring rate for Sindh with a whirlwind 69 off 36 balls, the right-hander hit eight fours and three sixes. Saud fell for 60 off 78 balls (three fours), Hassan Khan scored an unbeaten 38 off 28 balls to take his side past the 300-run mark, Sindh were bowled out for 309 in 49.1 overs. Pacers Mohammad Ilyas and Summers took three wickets each.

Salman (player-of-the-match), who was one of the leading scorers in the recently concluded Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, continued his rich vein of form by scoring a sparking unbeaten 106 off 75 balls that took Southern Punjab home.

The right-hander, who came into bat at number five in the batting order, hit nine fours and three sixes in his innings.

Opener Zain Abbas who had retired hurt came back to finish the chase with Salman, he remained unbeaten on 75 off 79 balls (nine fours).

Sohaib contributed 36 off 28 balls (three fours, two sixes). Southern Punjab chased down the target for the loss of six wickets in 48.3 overs.

Anwar Ali and M0hammad Umar took two wickets each for Sindh.

Balochistan vs Northern, UBL Sports Complex, Karachi:

An unbeaten 115-run innings off 136 balls (seven fours, two sixes) by Umar Amin guided Northern to their 285 for seven score after they were put into bat by Balochistan at the UBL Sports Complex.

The left-handed Umar added 106 runs for the fourth-wicket with captain Mohammad Nawaz who scored 60 off 65 balls with the help of six fours.

No other Northern batsman crossed the 30-run mark in their innings, Raza-ul-Hasan and Umaid Asif took two wickets each for Balochistan.

Balochistan were bowled out for 249 runs in the 47th over in reply. Captain Imran Farhat top-scored with 49 off 46 balls (five fours). Ayaz Tasawar made a 44-run contribution (51 balls, three fours, two sixes). All six frontline Balochistan batsmen got starts but failed to convert them into substantial performances.

Northern bowlers made vital breakthroughs at crucial junctures to ensure their side’s comfortable 36-run win. Aamer Jamal, Nawaz and Mubasir Khan took two wickets each. Umar Amin was named player-of-the-match

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Central Punjab, NBP Sports Complex, Karachi:

Centuries by captain Saad Nasim and Muhammad Akhlaq took Central Punjab to their 305 for seven total after they were put into bat by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Akhlaq and Saad added 210 runs for the fourth-wicket, wicketkeeper-batsman Akhlaq’s 117 was compiled off 115 balls and included eight fours and four sixes.

Saad took the attack to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bowlers in his stroke-filled 101-run innings off 86 balls, the right-hander hit seven fours and four sixes in his innings.

Arshad Iqbal with two wickets for 63 runs was the most successful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bowler.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chased down the score in 46.3 overs, courtesy a dazzling unbeaten 103 off 97 balls by Musaddiq Ahmed who came into bat after openers Fakhar Zaman and Israrullah had added 80 runs for the first-wicket. Musaddiq hit seven fours and three sixes in his match winning effort that won him the player-of-the-match award.

Fakhar scored 70 off 69 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes while Israrullah contributed 40 runs. Captain Khalid Usman scored an unbeaten 35 off 25 balls laced with three fours and one six in an 88-run partnership for the sixth-wicket with Musadiq that took Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to victory.

Waqas Maqsood took three while Qasim Akram took two wickets for Central Punjab.

Scores in brief:

Southern Punjab vs Sindh, State Bank Stadium, Karachi:

Sindh 309 all out, 49.1 overs (Azam Khan 69, Saud Shakeel 60, Asad Shafiq 45; Mohammad Ilyas 3-36, Aaron Summers 3-72, Muhammad Imran 2-47)

Southern Punjab 311-6, 48.3 overs (Salman Ali Agha 106 not out, Zain Abbas 75 not out; Anwar Ali 2-60, Mohammad Anwar 2-60)

Result: Southern Punjab won by four wickets

Man-of-the-Match: Salman Ali Agha

Balochistan vs Northern, UBL Sports Complex, Karachi:

Northern 285-7, 50 overs (Umar Amin 115 not out, Mohammad Nawaz 60; Raza-ul-Hasan 2-39, Umaid Asif 2-54)

Balochistan 249 all out, 46.3 overs (Imran Farhat 49, Ayaz Tasawar 44; Aamer Jamal 2-24, Mohammad Nawaz 2-47

Result: Northern won by 36 runs

Player-of-the-Match: Umar Amin

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Central Punjab, NBP Sports Complex, Karachi:

Central Punjab 305-7, 50 overs (Muhammad Akhlaq 117, Saad Nasim 101; Arshad Iqbal 2-63)

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 311-5, 46.3 overs (Musaddiq Ahmed 103 not out, Fakhar Zaman 70, Israrullah 46; Waqas Maqsood 3-43, Qasim Akram 2-57

Result: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won by five wickets

Man-of-the-Match: Musaddiq Ahmed

10 January fixtures:

Northern vs Central Punjab – State Bank Stadium
Balochistan vs Southern Punjab –UBL Sports Complex
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Sindh –NBP Sports Complex

[MenInG]

2 drops.

[shah_1]

I'm going to make an excuse here. The fast bowlers just come off a gruelling QeA trophy with not that much rest in between. The kookaburra took it's toll on the pacers this year.

Fully fit Mir Hamza, Anwar Ali, Muhammad Umer, Aamir Yamin, Illyas and Muhammad Imran will be bowling 140+?

It is a proven fact that you need pace in white ball cricket to do well, these trundlers are too easy on flat pitches

[UzmanBeast]

Fully fit Mir Hamza, Anwar Ali, Muhammad Umer, Aamir Yamin, Illyas and Muhammad Imran will be bowling 140+?

It is a proven fact that you need pace in white ball cricket to do well, these trundlers are too easy on flat pitches

Not just pace, you need skills as well. You need the yorker, the bouncer, and also an arsenal of slower balls. You need to be able to bowl at the stumps and also bowl wider as well. You need to use the crease to create angles and also know how to swing and seam the ball if you're a new ball bowler. But having pace and having the ability to do all of these things makes you a world class bowler.

[CleverSir]

Does anyone know why Ali Tareen was being referred to as the owner of S. Punjab and Multan Sultans during his interview? Was it just a mistake or are the local teams in domestic cricket being privatized?

Tareen himself clarified in the interview that he wasn't the owner. He was involved behind the scenes and hoped to be on the board when it is set-up.

[Shariq7]

Tareen himself clarified in the interview that he wasn't the owner. He was involved behind the scenes and hoped to be on the board when it is set-up.

Okay got it. It would have been interesting if they were actually thinking of fully or partially privatizing domestic cricket.

[Savak]

The stadiums on which these games are being played on are not international standard.

The PCB chose to preserve the national stadium, qadhafi stadium, rawalpindi, multan stadium due to the Pak SA series and the PSL

[guldozer]

It will be interesting to see if Abrar Ahmed gets a run if games for Sindh. He can spin the ball both ways and looks like a potential white ball specialist for Pakistan.

[Omer2002]

The stadiums on which these games are being played on are not international standard.

The PCB chose to preserve the national stadium, qadhafi stadium, rawalpindi, multan stadium due to the Pak SA series and the PSL

That is correct. I wouldnt blame for.PCB for this as they had to play in karachi due to weather and national needs to be prepared for saffers

[ask_analyse_act]

Azam looked set for a 100, pretty soft dismissal. Ends up top scoring regardless, can be a good addition to the T20 team.

If they are serious about playing for national team, they need to be fit enough, atleast like Rishabh Pant

Pakistan shouldn’t drop their levels too low for fitness standards. Same should be for Sharjeel too

[Savak]

If they are serious about playing for national team, they need to be fit enough, atleast like Rishabh Pant

Pakistan shouldn’t drop their levels too low for fitness standards. Same should be for Sharjeel too

Azam Khan has already lost a lot of weight. He however still needs to put more work in the gym before reaching international standards

[KoyoAli]

If they are serious about playing for national team, they need to be fit enough, atleast like Rishabh Pant

Pakistan shouldn’t drop their levels too low for fitness standards. Same should be for Sharjeel too

Are you joking? lol. Rishab Pant is unfit. Azam despite his build is actually very proactive in the field and a good runner between the wickets. His keeping is up to par as well so no reason why he should not play in the shortest format. For some reason, everyone here believes that fit means lean lmao.

[azimiqbal]

Guys is there anywhere I can follow the games scorecard?

[Pacy with wisdom]

Azam Khan has already lost a lot of weight. He however still needs to put more work in the gym before reaching international standards

Even if Azam becomes superfit, he is never going to look lean like normal athletes. That is because his skin has lost a lot of its elasticity.

[MenInG]

CP v Sindh should be interesting!

[CleverSir]

The stadiums on which these games are being played on are not international standard.

The PCB chose to preserve the national stadium, qadhafi stadium, rawalpindi, multan stadium due to the Pak SA series and the PSL

The PCB chose to play all matches in Karachi for COVID reasons, it had nothing to do with preserving the other stadiums (for this season at least). It was stated multiple times when they put out the schedule that the 2020-21 season would be in Karachi for it's entirety. They're probably not playing the OD tourney in National Stadium because they want to rehab the pitches for the SA series and PSL after the grueling FC season.