Panthers 283 all out (Mubasir 90, Haider 84, Daniyal 3-47, Shaheen 3-57) beat Lions 199 all out (Imam 60, Shadab 3-42, Mir 3-55) by 84 runs
The Panthers won the toss and batted first; that has been a winning formula all tournament and did not change in the only day game of this competition. Sirajuddin and Shaheen Shah Afridi did give the Lions the perfect start, with four early wickets reducing Shadab’s side to 51 for 4, but a remarkable middle-order recovery got the innings back on track.
The next 211 runs came at over a run a ball for the loss of just one wicket and the Mubasir-Haider pair each looked on the cusp of well-deserved hundreds before falling short of that mark. A cameo from Shadab ensured the Panthers posed an imposing total, even if a late mini-collapse saw them bowled out in under 47 overs.
But from the moment Shadab returned and drew an edge from the opener that Usman Khan latched onto, the Lions’ resistance fell apart. Usama Mir and Shadab got stuck into the middle order, which never really replicated the role of their Panthers’ counterparts, and offered minimal resistance as the spinners ripped into them. Hasnain returned to clean Sirajuddin up to seal a convincing win, and maintained the status quo of no chasing side winning in this tournament.
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000
Source: ESPN Crickinfo