- Bahawalpur, Dera Murad Jamali register their first victories of National T20 Cup Qualifier
- Matches highlights are available here; Tournament scorecards and stats are available here; Action images are available here
Lahore, 19 February 2026: Bahawalpur Region and Dera Murad Jamali Region registered victories against Hyderabad Region and Rawalpindi Region respectively in Match 11 and 12 of ABS Developers present University of Lahore National T20 Cup Qualifier on Thursday night here at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Chasing a modest 111, Bahawalpur Region cantered to the target in just 9.3 overs, winning by seven wickets. Player of the match Mohammad Akram spearheaded the chase with a blistering 50 off 15 balls; the fastest T20 half-century in Pakistan’s domestic history; bringing up his fifty off just 13 deliveries, studded with six fours and four sixes.
Akram also shared a 77-run opening partnership with Mohamamd Sudais (25, 15b, 5x4s) off 29 balls. After three wickets in quick succession, no.5 batter Ali Afzal contributed an unbeaten 4-ball 10, hitting two boundaries and sealing the win for his side.
Earlier, Hyderabad were restricted to 111-8 in their 20 overs.
Hyderabad’s wicketkeeper-batter Rizwan Mehmood remained unbeaten on 56 off 51 balls, striking five fours and two sixes, and was the only batter to reach double figures.
Mohammad Basit (4-0-15-2) and skipper Muhammad Imran (4-0-32-2) shared four wickets among themselves.
In the second game of the day, Rawalpindi elected to bat first and lost two wickets in the powerplay as the scoreboard read 22-2 after 3.3 overs.
Opening batter Yasir Khan (24, 25b, 2x4s, 1x6) then put together a 48-run partnership with Haider Ali who scored run-a-ball 17, featuring three fours.
Following Yasir’s dismissal to skipper Fahad Hussain (4-0-16-2) in the 10th over when the scoreboard read 70-3, Rawalpindi lost their next four wickets for 30 runs, slipping to 100-7 after 14.5 overs.
Coming in to bat at no.9, Mehran Mumtaz top-scored with an unbeaten 19-ball 44, smashing three fours and four sixes. Mehran also shared an unbeaten 58-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Mubasir Khan (20 not out, 21b) to lift their side to 158-7 in 20 overs.
For Dera Murad Jamali, Sajjad Ahmed returned figures of 4-0-34-3 while Fahad and Farhan Ullah (4-0-26-2) shared four wickets among themselves.
In reply, Dera Murad Jamli’s opening batters Basit Ali (35, 27b, 6x4s) and top-scorer Nasir Khan’s (54, 36b, 3x4s, 3x6s) 71-run partnership took the game away from Rawalpindi.
Basit was removed by Mehran (4-0-28-1) in the seventh over when the scoreboard read 71-1 however, Nasir shared another 46-run alliance with Dawood Khan (39 not out, 39b, 3x4s, 1x6) for the second wicket.
Nasir departed in the 15th over to Jahandad Khan (4-0-36-2) when the scoreboard read 117-2. Jahandad bagged Muhammad Khan’s (8, 8b) wicket in the 17th over to tighten the screws on Dera Murad Jamali.
With 15 required off the last two overs, Dawood and Shahid (14 not out, 12b, 1x4) fetched one boundary each off the penultimate over to bring the required runs down to three off the final over.
Dera Murad Jamali chased down the target in 19.3 overs with seven wickets in hand, securing their first victory of the tournament.
Scores in brief:
Match 11: Bahawalpur Region beat Hyderabad Region by seven wickets at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
Hyderabad 111-8, 20 overs (Rizwan Mehmood 56 not out; Mohammad Basit 2-15, Muhammad Imran 2-32)
Bahawalpur 114-3, 9.3 overs (Mohammad Akram 50, Mohammad Sudais 25)
Player of the match: Mohammad Akram (Bahawalpur)
Match 12: Dera Murad Jamali Region beat Rawalpindi Region by seven wickets at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Rawalpindi 158-7, 20 overs (Mehran Mumtaz 44 not out, Yasir Khan 24, Mubasir Khan 20 not out; Sajjad Ahmed 3-34, Fahad Hussain 2-16, Farhan Ullah 2-26)
Dera Murad Jamali 159-3, 19.3 overs (Nasir Khan 54, Dawood Khan 39 not out, Basir Ali 35; Jahandad Khan 2-36)
Player of the match: Nasir Khan (Dera Murad Jamali)
Friday’s fixtures
AJK v Karachi Blues at 7pm PKT
Larkana v Quetta at 11:15pm PKT
