Imran Farhat hit a dozen boundaries and two sixes in his 59-ball 100
Opener Imran Farhat slammed a whirlwind unbeaten ton to help Lahore Eagles register a comfortable 58-run win over Hyderabad Hawks at Lahore City Cricket Association in their Faysal Bank T20 Cup opener on Saturday.
The dashing southpaw plundered 100 off 59 balls and shared 168-run opening stand with Taufeeq Umar (65 off 53) as Eagles posted a considerable total of 224-2.
In reply, Sharjeel Khan hit an unbeaten 103 off 65 balls with the help of seven sixes and half-dozen boundaries but failed to receive support from the rest of the cast.
Sharjeel and Azeem Ghumman got hosts off to a flamboyant start in chase and plundered 44 runs off first 27 deliveries before Ghumman, who hit three fours and a six in his 15-ball 28, bowled out edged to Imran Farhat off left-arm seamer Junaid Zia.
Seamer Asif Raza dragged Hawks further into trouble by removing wicketkeeper batsman Shahzad Haider in the subsequent over.
After the back-to-back dismissals, Sharjeel shouldered the obligation single-handedly and continued the anticipation towards target with attacking strokes. But was unable to find a able ally on the other end.
Aqeel Anjum departed for 13 and Rizwan Ahmed perished for single but unstoppable Sharjeel accelerated the flow of runs on board. However, despite of his strive, Hawks failed to cope with consistently rising asking-rate and desponded for 156-5.
Earlier, left-handed openers Imran Farhat and skipper Umar made the mockery of Hyderabad bowling attack with sparkling shots all over the park.
The majestic partnership between the pair ended with the dismissal of Umar, who hit nine boundaries before getting caught behind to gloveman Shahzad Haider off spinner Nasir Awais.
After Umar’s dismissal, Imran Farhat combined with Azhar Ali (28 off 13) for another ostentatious stand, which saw Eagles clobber 58 runs off just 28 deliveries.
Imran Farhat advanced to three figures with the help of 12 boundaries and two gigantic maximums.