Sohail Khan and Sharjeel Khan played crucial parts on each side of the innings as Sindh defeated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by eight wickets to win its first National T20 Cup at Multan.
After being asked to bowl first by KP’s captain Khalid Usman, Sindh relied on Sohail’s expertise to restrict the defending champions to mere 140 runs.
Sohail removed the dangerous Sahibzada Farhan and Kamran Ghulam in the first nine balls he bowled in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s batting before picking up two more wickets of Mohmmad Sarwar Afridi and Mohammad Abbas Afridi to end with match figures of 4-0-18-4.
With a low score on the board, Kyber Pakhtunkhwa needed early wickets to pile some pressure but they ran into a rock-solid opening pair of Saim Ayub and Sharjeel Khan. The left-handers stroked eight fours and six sixes between them and stitched a 70-run partnership for the first wicket to practically guarantee the win.
Despite losing Saim (36 runs off 24 balls) Sharjeel (53) and Omair Bin Yousuf (21 not out, 12b, one four, two sixes) and captain Saud Shakeel (18 not out, 16b, two fours) saw Sindh easily chase down the remaining score to seal their first National T20 Cup triumph in their history.
Sindh was also represented well in the awards ceremony with Sohail Khan being judged the Man of the Match and the “Best Bowler of the Tournament” while Saim Ayub nabbed the Player of the Tournament honours.
