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[Watch] Pakistan Fielding Woes Never End As Arafat Minhas Left Embarrassed In National T20 Cup

Kaushik Kashyap

Arafat  Minhas dropped Imran Butt. [Source - therealpcb/instagram]Arafat  Minhas dropped Imran Butt. [Source - therealpcb/instagram]

In a dramatic turn of events, Arafat Minhas made a costly mistake in the second semi-final match of the ongoing National T20 Cup between Lahore Blues and Multan, played on Wednesday in Faisalabad. Minhas dropped an easy catch of Lahore’s opener Imran Butt, while fielding at the boundary, allowing the right-hander to remain at the crease and play a terrific knock till the end.

This missed opportunity proved to be a match deciding one as Imran went on to play a match-winning knock, which turned out to be the difference between the two sides. His exceptional performance helped Lahore Blues to secure victory, leaving Multan to regret the crucial drop that could have shifted the game in their favor.

Arafat's Drop: A Lifeline for Imran Butt in the Semi-Final

The incident happened in the first ball of the 13th over of the first innings. Faisal Akram, the chinaman spinner, had tossed the ball up, and Imran slogged it towards mid-wicket. The ball went straight to Arafat, who was standing at deep mid-wicket, but failed to hold onto it, allowing the ball to go for a six.

And little did they know how crucial that chance was as Imran made the most of the life, smashing 21 off that over and eventually, finishing unbeaten on 89 off 56 which powered Lahore Blues to post a formidable 166 in their 20 overs.

Catches win matches, and this certainly wasn’t the case for Arafat and his side Multan in the semi-final. Chasing 167, Multan fell short by just 5 runs and Lahore edged through to the final. Yes, the chance was tough at the boundary like, but you expect a young emerging talent like Arafat, who has been part of Pakistan cricket’s future plans, to grab such opportunities and become the match-winner for his team. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and the story of Pakistan and its comical fielding errors continues.