File photo – Sahibzada Farhan (in photo) was part of a century stand with Iftikhar Ahmed © Getty Images
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 154 for 3 (Farhan 54*, Iftikhar 49*) beat Sindh 152 for 6 (Masood 54, Iftikhar 2-25) by seven wickets
Iftikhar Ahmed hit a 37-ball 49 and Sahibzada Farhan scored a 33-ball 54 to power Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with an unbeaten century stand to thump Sindh by seven wickets in Lahore. Both teams, on ten points, have confirmed their semifinal spots.
Batting first, Sharjeel Khan was a shadow of his batting form compared to his overnight century against South Punjab. His 26 runs came at a strike-rate of 96.29. Shan Masood, who had been struggling to find runs, made a crucial 54 off 37 balls. Saud Shakeel, Ahsan Ali and Danish Aziz together added 18 in 18 balls.
Sindh entered the game having without regular captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, who linked up with the national T20 squad after being picked for the World Cup. Anwar Ali led instead. He smacked three sixes in his 27-ball 34 runs cameo to propel the total to 152. Iftikhar also took two wickets.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa made a brisk start, but lost three batters for 54 in 6.4 overs, as Aamer Azmat (18 off 17) and Musadiq Ahmed (23 off 12) went back in quick succession. But both Farhan and Iftikhar stood tall to finish off the game without any further damage.
Umar Farooq is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo