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Pakistan National T20: Central & Southern Punjab register wins as rain spoils the day

image-l7xsrn3uPakistan National T20 tournament has been far more competitive this season (PC: Twitter)

The caravan of the ongoing Pakistan National T20 Cup rolled on Sunday, with Central Punjab and Southern Punjab locking horns with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan respectively.

Here's a recap of what transpired:

Central Punjab v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 19th Match 

Result: Central Punjab won by 25 runs 

Central Punjab pulled off a major upset on Sunday as they beat table-toppers Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by 25 runs in Multan to claim their 2nd win of the season.

Batting first, Central Punjab rode on blistering knocks from opener Faizan Khan (72 off 36) and Tayyab Tahir (75 off 48) to post 193 in 20 overs.

That Khyber Pakhtunkhwa managed to restrict them to 193 despite the brilliance of Khan and Tahir was due to the duo of Mohammad Imran (3/30 in 3) and Maaz Khan (4/46 in 4), who claimed 7 wickets between them.

But, as it turned out, it did not matter in the end as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa didn't get anywhere near the target.

Opener Sahibzada Farhan smashed a 31-ball 47 to give his side an impetus during the run-chase, as did Mohammad Sarwar (28 off 14) and Khalid Usman (24 off 16) during the middle-overs but none stayed longer to make a game-changing impact.

They eventually finished at 168/9 in 20. The trio of Aamer Yamin, Hunain Shah and Ali Asfand proved did the bulk of the damage, claiming two wickets each.

Brief Scores:

Central Punjab: 193/10 (20)

Tayyab Taylor 75 (48), Faizan Khan 72 (36)
Maaz Khan 4/46 (4), Mohammad Imran 3/30 (3)

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: 168/9 (20)

Sahibzada Farhan 47 (31), Mohammad Sarwar 28 (14)
Ali Asfand 2/14 (2), Hunain Shah 2/28 (4), Aamer Yamin 2/46 (4)

Balochistan v Southern Punjab, 20th Match 

Result: Southern Punjab won by 20 runs (D/L)

Third-placed Southern Punjab came up trumps against the 2nd ranked Balochistan in a rain-affected game in Multan on Sunday.

Batting first, Balochistan could only manage 144 in their quota of 20 overs as none of their batters could convert their starts into a game-changing knock against a disciplined Southern Punjab attack-led by Ali Mujid (3/27 in 4) & Mohammad Ilyas (2/19 in 3).

Heavy downpour in Multan meant that DLS came into play and Southern Punjab were eventually set a target of 53 in 6 overs.

Openers Umar Siddiq (32* off 20) and Zain Abbas (21* off 16) made sure that their side didn't break a sweat as they hunted down the target with ease.

Brief Scores:

Balochistan: 144/10 (20)

Asad Shafiq 27 (20), Abdul Bangalzai 25 (25)?
Ali Mujid 3/27 (4), Mohammad Ilyas 2/19 (3)

Southern Punjab: 54/0 (6)

Umar Siddiq 32* (20), Zain Abbas 21* (16)

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