RAWALPINDI: Islamabad region suffered its third defeat on trot at the hands of none other than its sister city Rawalpindi in the Cool & Cool Presents JAZZ National T20 Cup 2016/17 third round match here at the Pindi Stadium on Thursday.
It was not that they did not score enough runs to fight on but in fact it were their bowlers who failed to defend the total. Rawalpindi middle order batsman Umer Amin foiled all Islamabad bowlers’ efforts to seal win.
When Islamabad was asked to bat, everyone was expecting them to fold soon but they went on to score 174 runs for five but Amin;s heroics, strong innings from Mukhtar Ahmed and big contribution from Hammad Azam got Islamabad to 175 for five in 19 overs.
After losing two quick wickets for 23, Rawalpindi opener Mukhtar maintained his act in tact to score 40 runs hitting six fours and a six as he face 27 balls. He along with Amin took the total to 63 before being a victim of spinner Abdur Rehman.
Things went jittery for Rawalpindi when they lost another wickets making it four for 64. And here Amin acted as a major rescuer for his team and he found an able support in Hammad Azam. The two together took the score to near completion before Hammad fell at 34. However, Amin had done what was required of him and with his unbeaten 76 in 50 balls, he not only entertained the crowd with five fours and four sixes but also win the match for his team. On the other end, Sohail Tanvir remained not out to see Amin hit the winning shot.
Mohammad Irfan had two wickets while Rehman and Shahid Afridi shared one wicket each.
Earlier, Raheel Majeed 23 and Imam-ul-Haq 54 gave Islamabad a dream start whcih was further developed by Imam and Adil Amin 44. Afridi’s 26 and Ali Sarfraz’s 14 lifted to total from where they could claim it as a fighting total.
Zukfiqae Babar had two wickets while one each was shared by Sohail Tanvir and Yasir Arafat.
