Ahmed Shehzad was adjudged Man-of-the-Match
Lahore Lions crushed Bahawalpur Stags by 51 runs in the 1st-semi final of Faysal Bank T20 Cup at Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday to seal spot in the summit clash.
Powered by Ahmed Shehzad’s whirlwind 107 off 57 balls, Lahore Lions managed a mammoth total of 211-5 and shot Bahawalpur Stags out for 160.
In purist of a considerable target, Bahawalpur failed to recover from early blows and lost wickets at regular intervals.
Left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz was the chief-in-wreaker of Bahawalpur Stags with the figures of 3-23. Adnan Rasool claimed as many wickets for 27 runs and Abdul Razzaq finished with 2-24.
Imranullah Aslam was top-scorer for Bahawalpur with 43 off 32 and Moinuddin scored 33 but rest of others failed to make impact.
Earlier, asked to bat, Lahore Lions lost opener Nasir Jamshed (2) cheaply before Shehzad and skipper Mohammad Hafeez (65 off 36) shared a 96-run stand for the second wicket.
The two batsmen plundered pulverized the clueless Bahawalpur bowling attack with flamboyant shots all over the ground. Shehzad lashed back-to-back boundaries off Ataullah to bring up his century.
Studded with 20 boundaries and two sixes, Shehzad’s magnificent vigil ended in the next over when Imranullah Aslam captured his catch at deep mid-on off Kashif Siddiq.
After Shehzad’s departed the skipper continued to hold fort runs in the company of Umar Akmal, who hit a six and boundary in his unbeaten 19-ball 28.
Hafeez, who clobbered half dozen boundaries and three sixes in his knock, eventually perished to Kamran Hussain in the final over. Hussain later scalped Abdul Razzaq (0) and Wahab Riaz (1) in the final over to finish with 4-23.
