FAISALABAD – Lahore defeated Peshawar by nine wickets in the final to lift National T20 Cup at the Iqbal Stadium on Thursday night.
Lahore Blues pocketed winners prize of PKR five millions out of the 9.4 million PKR prize pot, while the runners up Peshawar got PKR 2.5 million.
Chasing a meagre 111-run target, Lahore Blues got over the line with 24 balls in the bag as opening batter Umar Siddiq remained unbeaten on 64 off 46 balls.
Umar stitched a 45-run opening stand with Imran Butt and followed it up by an unbeaten 66-run partnership with Junaid Ali (30) to take his team home.
Earlier, Peshawar were kept in check by the Lahore Blues bowlers as only three of their batters entered double figures leading to a modest 110-9 total in the allotted 20 overs. Iftikhar Ahmed (34) and Mohammad Zulkifal (32) were the main contributors for Peshawar.
Player of the match Mohammad Salman Mirza bagged four wickets for 21 runs in his four overs, while Mohammad Irfan returned figures of 4-0-20-2. Qasim Akram, Nisar Ahmed and Mohammad Rizwan dismissed one batter each.
Scores in brief:
Peshawar 110-9, 20 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 34, Mohammad Zulkifal 32; Mohammad Salman Mirza 4-21, Mohammad Irfan 2-20)
Lahore Blues 111-1, 16 overs (Umar Siddiq 64 not out, Junaid Ali 30 not out; Usman Tariq 1-20)
Player of the match – Mohammad Salman Mirza (Lahore Region Blues)
Player of the tournament and best batter of the tournament – Sahibzada Farhan (Peshawar Region – 605 runs in seven matches)
Best bowler of the tournament – Hasan Ali (Sialkot Region – 13 wickets in four matches)
Best wicketkeeper of the tournament – Muhammad Akhlaq (Lahore Region Whites – Six dismissals & 114
