KARACHI – Challengers overhauled Stars’ 108-run total in the final over of National Women’s T20 tournament 13th match at the National Bank Stadium on Friday afternoon.
After winning the toss and putting Stars in to bat first, Challengers kept striking on regular intervals. Sadaf wreaked havoc with the ball as she snapped the first five wickets to fall with none of the Stars’ top four entering double figures.
Kaynat Hafeez top-scored with a 52-ball 48 hitting four fours to push her team past the 100-run mark. Kaynat was supported by Waheeda Akhtar who remained unbeaten on 21 off 16 balls comprising two boundaries as Stars ended with 108-9 in 20 overs. Rabia Rani returned figures of 4-0-17-3.
In turn, Challengers lost both the opening batters on 24 before finding themselves reeling at 47-5.
Aliya Riaz and skipper Rameen Shamim took it upon themselves to ace the chase with a match-winning 65-run alliance. Aliya struck seven fours in her unbeaten 48 off 34 balls, while Rameen clubbed one six and two fours in her 19-ball 28 not out as the duo got their team over the line with one ball to spare.
For Stars, Anosha Nasir returned figures of 3-11 in her four overs, while Neelam Mushtaq and Tuba Hassan dismissed one batter each.
In the other match of the seventh round, Gull Feroza-led Strikers bested Invincibles by a seven-wicket margin as they chased the 144-run target in 17.4 overs with player of the match Eyman Fatima scoring an unbeaten 74 off 39 balls.
Gull chipped in with a valuable 49 off 46 balls inclusive of five boundaries as she formed a 105-run partnership with Eyman after two early blows. Eyman, who currently leads the batting charts with 253 runs at a strike rate of 151, registered her third half-century in the tournament.
Earlier, Invincibles got off to a solid start with 72-run opening stand between top-scorer Muneeba Ali (67) and Ayesha Zafar (36).
Apart from the opening batters, only Iram Javed (12) reached double figures as Invincibles managed to score 143-5 in their 20 overs.
