Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (152/3) defeat Central Punjab (148 all out) by 7 wickets and win National T20 Cup

[MenInG]

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi (vice-captain),
Adil Amin, Arshad Iqbal, Asif Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imran Khan Snr, Israrullah, Maaz Khan, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Imran Khan, Mohammad Wasim, Mussadiq Ahmed and Sahibzada Farhan

Central Punjab – Babar Azam (captain), Hasan Ali (vice-captain), Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Ahmed Shehzad, Ehsan Adil, Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Akhlaq (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Hafeez, Qasim Akram, Saif Badar, Shoaib Malik, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz, Waqas Maqsood and Sameen Gul

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[OMB]

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[MenInG]

Lahore, 13 October 2021: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Khalid Usman has been fined 20 per cent of his match fee for a level 1 offence for showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during the first National T20 2021-22 semi-final against Northern at the Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday.

Khalid argued with the umpire during the 18th over of the second innings for not adjudging a delivery a no-ball. He was found to have violated Article 2.8 of the PCB Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel.

On-field umpires Asif Yaqoob and Rashid Riaz and third umpire Waleed Yaqub levelled the charge on the all-rounder, who accepted the sanction proposed by match-referee Mohammad Javed.

[MenInG]

KP have won the toss and elected to bowl against Central Punjab in the final of the National T20 Cup

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[MenInG]

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[ARK Rafay]

Iftikhar the destroyer with the ball now

[MenInG]

CP bowled out for 148 - seemed to be headed for the 180+ mark at one point

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[Saj]

What a tournament Ifthi is having with bat and ball.

Superb effort.

[Visaal-E-Yaar]

Match gettting very hot

[DRsohail]

Iftikhar Ahmad should have been in wordl cup squad,

[Saj]

Ifthi on a different level to the others.

[DRsohail]

Ifthi on a different level to the others.

If he had some connections like Malik and co,

[MenInG]

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[shamaan]

Iftikhar has been on fire with ball and bat in this tournament

[Saj]

Over-reliance on spin by CP in the end.

Wahab only bowled 2 overs, as did Sameen Gul.

[MenInG]

KP team in a celebratory mood!

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[Bewal Express]

Ifthi on a different level to the others.

I have been as guilty as anyone for thinking the guy is rubbish but he has started to grow on me. Looks a proper player

[MenInG]

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa successfully defended the National T20 title thanks to their captain Iftikhar Ahmed’s all-round performance, which fashioned a seven-wicket win over Central Punjab in the final at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.

The 31-year-old all-rounder stroked a whirlwind 45 not out off 19 as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa overhauled a 149-run target with 18 balls spare. Iftikhar arrived at the crease with his side requiring 59 runs from 7.4 overs and smashed two sixes and six fours to finish as the second best batter in the tournament with 409 runs scored at a staggering strike rate of 170.41.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa captain completed the run chase by smoking Mohammad Faizan for a four through cover on the last ball of the 17th over and unleashed a roar in the Lahore night sky. He was won the player of the final and the best player of the tournament awards.

Adil Amin with an unbeaten 25 off 21 provided Iftikhar support from the other end.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s run chase was off to a quiet start as Central Punjab captain Wahab Riaz bowled a maiden over to Sahibzada Farhan. Young wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Haris spanked Sameen Gul for a four and a six in the second over before he was dismissed.

The second wicket 47-run stand between Farhan, who was named as the best batter for scoring the 447 – the most in the tournament – at a strike rate of 132, and Kamran Ghulam (37 off 31) staged the recovery and put Khyber Pakhtunkhwa into a strong position.

Farhan made 26 off 28 and was dismissed by young off-spinner Qasim Akram.

That Central Punjab bowlers had something to bowl at was due to the 85-run second wicket alliance between Ahmed Shehzad and Kamran Akmal. The pair came together after Mohammad Akhlaq was caught behind off Imran Khan Snr on the second ball and put Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bowlers on the backfoot.

Ahmed, who top scored in the innings with 36-ball 44, smashed Arshad Iqbal for two fours in the second over, but it was the fifth over when their partnership truly kicked off as the two smashed left-arm orthodox Asif Afridi for two fours and a six in an over that added 16 to the total.

Ahmed finished the powerplay with a magnificent six over point as Central Punjab gathered 51 from the first six overs.

It was left-arm orthodox Khalid Usman who ended their partnership as he deceived Kamran in the air and had him stumped. Kamran smashed three fours and two sixes in his 29-ball 42.

The next over, Central Punjab’s problems compounded as Iftikhar introduced himself into the attack. Ahmed fell six runs short of what would have been his 40th T20 half-century as he hold out to long-off.

In his next over, Iftikhar accounted for Saif Badar and Hussain Talat as Central Punjab slipped from 85 for one to 101 for five and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa captain finished with a superb three for five.

Qasim was the only batter in the middle-order to make a valuable contribution with 11-ball 20. He struck two sixes to Imran in the 17th over, which added 20.

But, from there on, Central Punjab lost wickets on regular intervals. Mohammad Imran removed Mohammad Faizan and Qasim on back to back deliveries in the 18th over and Arshad sent Faheem Ashraf and Zafar Gohar back to the pavilion in the next over. Imran returned in the last over to remove Wahab and end Central Punjab’s innings with four balls spare.

Scores in brief

Central Punjab 148 all out, 19.2 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 44, Kamran Akmal 42, Qasim Akram 20; Iftikhar Ahmed 3-5, Mohammad Imran 3-26, Arshad Iqbal 2-28)

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 152-3, 17 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 45 not out, Kamran Ghulam 37, Sahibzada Farhan 26, Adil Amin 25 not out; Sameen Gul 1-19, Qasim Akram 1-27, Mohammad Faizan 1-46)

Player of the final: Iftikhar Ahmed

Player of the tournament: Iftikhar Ahmed (409 runs and eight wickets)

Best batter of the tournament: Sahibzada Farhan (447 runs)

Best bowler of the tournament: Imran Khan Snr (16 wickets)

Best wicketkeeper of the tournament: Rohail Nazir (12 dismissals)

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[Saj]

Champion team full of lion-hearted cricketers.

Move over Lahore and Karachi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are the kings of Pakistan cricket.

[MenInG]

The final moments of the game and the celebrations

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[BunnyRabbit]

Fawad should console Iftikhar. His omission from wt20 squad is already looking like a bad miss.

Haven't seen a more useless cricketer than Saif Badar who for some reason is hyped to the moon.

[Bewal Express]

Farhan looked awful at the top for PK but he looked decent down the order in this tournament. With 2 places opening after Malik and Hafeez leave in 2031, he may get a chance

[Coolcapri]

The final moments of the game and the celebrations

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Lovely celebration, Fully deserved, Gr8 to watch.

[Coolcapri]

Farhan looked awful at the top for PK but he looked decent down the order in this tournament. With 2 places opening after Malik and Hafeez leave in 2031, he may get a chance

Are you sure they will leave in 2031 (i m not)

[Bewal Express]

Are you sure they will leave in 2031 (i m not)

TBH nor am i

[MenInG]

[MenInG]

A statistical review of National T20 2021-22

Lahore, 15 October 2021:

The 18th edition of the National T20 completed with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa winning the title after beating Central Punjab by seven wickets in the final at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.

Here is a look at the records made during the action-packed tournament.

Back-to-back titles for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

After having won National T20, Pakistan Cup and being joint-winners of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in the last season, they have begun the 2021-22 season with another National T20 silverware.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are only the fourth team after Sialkot Stallions, Lahore Lions and Peshawar, to win back-to-back titles in the history National T20.

A new record for Sahibzada Farhan

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Sahibzada Farhan was a driving force behind his team’s title win. His 447 runs are the most by any batter in one edition of National T20, breaking Kamran Akmal’s record of 432 runs for Lahore Whites in 2017.

Farhan scored his runs at an average of 40.63, a strike-rate of 132.24 and with three 50s, including one in the semi-final against Northern. 2021 has been a terrific white-ball year for Charsadda-born batter as, at the start of the year, he also scored 487 runs at 54.11 and hit three centuries in the Pakistan Cup.

Iftikhar Ahmed’s numbers

Player of the tournament and the final had a dream run in this National T20. Iftikhar Ahmed scored 45 not out off 19 balls and took three wickets for five runs in the final against Central Punjab and finished the tournament with 409 runs and eight wickets at an economy of 5.57 (the best by anyone who bowled at least 10 overs in the tournament).

Iftikhar also hit 24 sixes, the most by anyone in this year’s edition, and had a tournament strike-rate of 170.41.

The most impressive aspect of Iftikhar’s runs scoring was his average of 102.25. The only batter in the tournament history with a higher average in one season is Salman Butt – 328 runs at 109.33 in the 2017 edition.

Wahab Riaz - the most prolific bowler

Wahab Riaz, who also captained Central Punjab in the absence of Babar Azam, became the most prolific bowler in National T20. During the course of his 12 wickets with an economy of 6.54, he went past Saeed Ajmal’s record of 89 wickets to become the highest wicket-taker in the tournament’s history.

Wahab now has 93 wickets at an average of 22.96 and an economy of 6.81.

Babar Azam’s records and milestone

Pakistan captain Babar Azam played only six games in this National T20 but that was enough for him to engrave his name in record books.

Babar scored 286 runs at an average of 71.50 and during his short stint he completed 7,000 runs in T20s from only 187 innings, the least taken by any batter to reach the milestone. He broke Chris Gayle’s record of 7,000 runs in 192 innings.

Babar also played an unbeaten knock of 105 off 63 balls against Northern becoming the first batter from Pakistan to register six centuries in the format. He went past the tally of Ahmed Shahzad and Kamran Akmal, who have five centuries each in T20 cricket.

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