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KARACHI: Balochistan rode on an excellent contribution from Awais Zia to complete a six-wicket victory over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in their First XI clash of the National T20 Cup in Rawalpindi on Saturday.
The left-handed opener, who had played five Twenty20 Internationals between 2012 and 2014 without much success, anchored Balochistan home in the 17th over with an undefeated 92 despite Shaheen Shah Afridi making early inroads upfront with the new ball with the scalps of Abdul Wahid Bangalzai — who marked his senior T20 debut with a golden duck — and Bismillah Khan (18).
The game was evenly poised when Balochistan lost their captain Haris Sohail (1) to slip to 68-4 in the ninth over in pursuit of a 155-run chase. But man-of-the-match Awais, who adorned his 49-ball innings with 10 fours and sixes, engineered a great recovery in the company of Akbar-ur-Rehman (24 off 22 balls, three boundaries) as the duo shared an unbroken partnership of 88 in 50 deliveries.
After being put into bat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa never found the momentum to post a bigger score than 154-6 when they were reduced to 65-3 in the 11th over with the dismissal of Fakhar Zaman (33 off 34, three sixes and two fours).
Shoaib Malik, in the meantime, made amends for his poor form by posting his first significant score this year. The ex-Pakistan captain slammed 74 off 44 balls with eight fours and two sixes, while being the dominant partner in the fourth-wicket stand of 69 with Sahibzada Farhan (12).
Balochistan’s fourth victory in six fixtures also enabled them to swap places with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa into second spot in the standings.
But the highlight, thus far, of the ongoing competition was Friday night’s clash when Sindh failed to defend a potentially winning total of 216-3 as their bowling was brutally exposed by the underrated batting exploits of Khushdil Shah who helped himself to a dazzling 35-ball century — the fastest by any Pakistani in the format.
Southern Punjab were heading for a fifth consecutive defeat at 43-4 in the seventh over while chasing a formidable target. But Khushdil — with decent support from fellow left-hander Hussain Talat — changed the complexion of the match as he clobbered nine massive sixes and eight fours in scoring exactly 100.
Khushdil, who had earlier brought up his half-century off 19 balls, was taken just outside the 30-yard circle by Sharjeel Khan on the very next ball after reaching the coveted landmark while trying to clear the midwicket area. But by then Southern Punjab were back in business largely due to the 127-run partnership in just 55 deliveries between man-of-the-match Khushdil and Hussain (62 off 36 balls, five fours and three sixes).
The only real blemish during Khushdil’s dazzling effort was when Mohammad Hasnain let go the ball through his hands through to the third man boundary — while attempting to glide Sohail Khan — when he had made 75.
Tailenders Dilbar Hussain (13) and Umar Khan (2) triggered wild celebrations in the Southern Punjab dugout by getting the remaining 10 runs with two balls to spare.
Explosive West Indies opener Chris Gayle holds the record of fastest T20 century, reaching the landmark in just 30 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Pune Warriors at Bangalore in 2013, followed by three others — Rishabh Pant (32), Wihan Lubbe (33) and Andrew Symonds (34).
Khushdil’s whirlwind innings now sits the 25-year-old from Bannu jointly alongside Louis van der Westhuizen, David Miller, Rohit Sharma and Martin Guptill, while the previous quickest to the three-figure mark by a Pakistani was 40 deliveries by Ahmed Shehzad during a Bangladesh Premier League match at Dhaka in 2012.
Khushdil also usurped the National T20 Cup record set by Bilal Asif who got to the hundred in 43 balls for Sialkot Stallions against Abbottabad Falcons at Faisalabad in 2015.
Earlier, long-discarded Pakistan opener Khurram Manzoor struck his fourth T20 ton, striking 108 in a 58-ball knock punctuated with 10 boundaries and six sixes after Sarfaraz Ahmed had elected to bat first. Asad Shafiq hit up a 37-ball 59 (six fours and two sixes) while adding 123 for the second wicket with the 34-year-old Khurram.
The night fixture between Central Punjab and Sindh, meanwhile, was in progress when this report was being field.