Match Details
That's it from our coverage of the 20th fixture of the Pakistan National T20 Cup 2022 between Balochistan and Southern Punjab from the Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan. We hope you enjoyed our coverage. Megh Mandaliya here, signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Chinmay and scorer/analyst Yogesh. Tune in for another doubleheader tomorrow. See you there!
THE MATCH HAS BEEN ABANDONED. The rain has played the spoilsport, but not for Southern Punjab. They have won this crucial encounter by 20 runs (DLS METHOD) and will climb up the ladder with 6 points.
In the first innings, after winning the toss and surprisingly electing to bowl first, Southern Punjab bundled Balochistan for 144. They started positively as they attained quick scalps at regular intervals. Haseebullah 8(9) was the first one to return as Ali Majid got better of him in the third over soon followed by the scalp of his opening companion Asad Shafiq 27(20). Balochistan also managed to secure 39 of the powerplay with the loss of two wickets. Abdul Bangalzai and Shan Masood tried to stitch a partnership but Masood 9(7) was outfoxed by Agha Salman and since then, Balochistan failed to take charge as they were dragged on the backfoot.
Southern Punjab spinsters bowled exceptionally and gripped the bowl from the surface. Captain Agha Salman bagged two crucial wickets and finished his stint on 2/26, similarly, Ali Majid attained the most scalps and finished his spell on 3/27. Muhammad Ilyas also constantly ticked the good-length area and troubled the batters; finished his spell on 2/19. Lastly, Imran Randhawa also attained a couple of scalps. The Balochistan could never really accelerate the innings and failed to hit boundaries.
In pursuit of a below-par total of 145, Southern Punjab started on an electrifying note as both the openers stitched 54 the powerplay. Both the southpaws looked in supreme touch and they made the most out of loose deliveries. Umar Siddiq took charge and capitalized on everything loose, while Zain Abbas, who has recently hit the purple patch of his career played the second fiddle. The duo stitched a partnership of 54 before the rain took charge. In the end, they won the match by 20 runs with the help of the DLS method. Stay tuned for the post-match presentation.