RAWALPINDI: Batsman Hasan Nawaz’s quickfire half-century remained the cornerstone of the Lions’ three-wicket victory over leaders Stallions in the 14th match of the T20 Champions Cup here at the Rawalpindi Stadium on Tuesday.
Placed first, the Stallions managed to score 168 in all the 20 allotted overs despite in-form Hussain Talat’s 43 runs down the order.
Openers Shamyl Hussain and Maaz Sadaqat gave the Stallions a decent start with a 46-run partnership, which lasted with the former’s dismissal in the sixth over. Hussain scored 18 in the run.
Skipper Mohammad Haris then joined Sadaqat for a brief 17-run partnership and returned in the ninth over after scoring nine ball sevens.
Following his dismissal, the Stallions lost two more wickets in quick succession, including set one Sadaqat, who scored 34 off 27 deliveries.
Experienced batsman Shoaib Malik and Hussain Talat then joined hands to start the comeback and added 40 runs for the fifth wicket until right-hand pacer Musa Khan broke the partnership by getting rid of the former, who scored 22 off 16.
His dismissal sparked a middle-order collapse that saw the Stallions lose wickets at an alarming rate. But Talat stood firm and scored the score himself before finally dying off the penultimate delivery of the innings.
Talat continued to be the Stallions’ top scorer with a 29-ball 43, hit with five fours and a six.
Musa led the bowling attack for the Lions with three wickets while Khushdil Shah and Shahid Aziz bagged two each.
In response, the Lions chased down the target of 169 runs, losing seven wickets and six balls to spare, thanks to Hasan’s sensible half-century.
The opening batsman single-handedly oversaw the Lions’ chase until his dismissal in the 15th over and remained the team’s top run-scorer with a 54-ball 74, studded with eight fours and three sixes.
Following his dismissal, the Lions took another big hit in their chase when Khushdil died for a 10-run ball, leaving them needing 40 runs from 22 deliveries.
But a match-defining 34-run partnership between Rohail Nazir and Shahid, coming off just 13 deliveries, took the Lions to the brink.
Rohail scored an unbeaten 26 off 12 deliveries, while Shahid hit 13 off six balls.
For the Stallions, Shoaib Malik and Sadaqat bagged two wickets each while Usman Tariq, Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Amir Khan shared three wickets between them.
The three-wicket victory took the Lions to third place in the Champions T20 Cup standings with six points from six matches, while the Stallions remained top with eight points from as many games.
