Sialkot Stallions opener Imran Nazir hit 65 off 43 balls
Imran Nazir slammed a whirlwind half-century to guide defending champions Sialkot Stallions to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Islamabad Leopards in their opening match of Faysal Bank T20 Cup at Bagh-e-Jinnah Ground, Lahore on Saturday.
The explosive batsman cracked 10 boundaries and a six in his 43-ball 65 as Sialkot overhauled the modest 123 run target with 25 balls to spare.
Earlier, seamer Umaid Asif’s three-wicket burst restricted Islamabad to 122-9.
Nazir and Shakeel Ansar got hosts off to a flamboyant start and clobbered 46 runs in the five overs before the wicketkeeper batsman got run out for 15.
Nazir continued the anticipation towards target in the company of Haris Sohail (21 not out) and shared 58 runs for the second wicket before eventually falling pray off spinner Sajid Ali.
Skipper Shoaib Malik plundered unbeaten 21 off 12 balls with the help of three boundaries and a six.
Earlier, Islamabad Leopards openers Raheel Majeed (15) and Afaq Raheem (0) failed to deliver a convincing start and departed with just 16 runs on board.
Bazid Khan and Shan Masood launched recovery and steadied the innings with sluggish 42-run stand before Malik snared latter leg-before for 28.
The dismissal was followed by the quick run outs of Moed Ahmed and Masood, who failed to hit a boundary during his 35-ball stay on crease.
Islamabad had not yet recovered from the back-to-back blows when Asif struck drastically and uprooted the stumps of Zohaib Ahmed and Umar Gul (16) in the same over.
Seamer Naved-ul-Hasan ripped through the lower-order by trapping wicketkeeper Naeem Anjum (1) and Sajid Ali (0) lbw in the 18th over.