The result put Central Punjab on top of the table
Central Punjab 131 for 2 (Talat 68*, Malik 40*) beat Sindh 128 for 7 (Sarfaraz 54*, Faheem 2-19) by eight wickets
A superb show from Central Punjab’s bowlers, along with contributions with the bat from Hussain Talat and Shoaib Malik, helped them beat Sindh by eight wickets with 26 balls to spare in the opening game of the second leg of the National T20 Cup at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. A meagre target of 129 was easily chased down with ease thanks to Talat (68 off 52) and Malik (40 off 25). The result put Central Punjab on top of the table.
Asked to field first, Sindh were off to a wobbly start losing both openers cheaply. Sarfaraz Ahmed played the anchor at No. 4 and helped lift the innings with an unbeaten 54 off 37 balls. He partnered with Ahsan Ali, Danish Aziz and Anwar Ali to take Sindh to 128 for 7. Faheem Ashraf (2-19) and Hasan Ali (2-31) and Wahab Riaz (1-28) bowled economic spells.
Central Punjab got off to a cautious start in the chase after they lost Kamran Akmal early. But Talat at No. 3 made sure things easy were for the side, scoring his 13th T20 half-century. He put up a match-winning unbeaten 98-run partnership with Malik – was dropped by Mir Hamza at long-on when he was on 11 – and finished the chase in 15.4 overs.