For the second straight night in Rawalpindi, rains arrived to spoil National T20 Cup action after a fabulous exhibition of power-hitting from discarded Pakistan star Shoaib Malik.
And again it was the fielding side to benefit from the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method of calculations at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday night.
Sindh — winners over Northern late on Friday by three runs in similar circumstances — were at the receiving end this time as Central Punjab roared back in contention for the semi-finals by grabbing a 12-run triumph after rains dented Sindh’s 169-run chase.
Sindh were looking at Anwar Ali for big-hitting but the moment the all-rounder sliced a catch towards Wahab Riaz at deep point, the players scurried off the field — precisely at 10:41pm — as the heavens opened with Sarfaraz Ahmed’s charges down in the mire at 110-6 after 14.4 overs.
While Sharjeel Khan was firing on all cylinders, it was a different story with Sindh very much the favourites to notch up their fifth win in six outings. Their powerplay score of 66 was double that of achieved by Babar Azam’s side. —Agencies
