MULTAN: Multan and Abbottabad teams on Thursday qualified for the NBP T-20 blind cricket trophy 2022 Grade 2 final by defeating their rival teams in the semifinals.
In the first semifinal, Sheikhupura won the toss and decided to bowl first. Openers Muhammad Safdar and Ghulam Akbar toiled the weak bowling of Sheikhupura and both knitted 226 runs for the 1st wicket partnership.
Multan set the gigantic total of 288 runs on the board for the loss of two wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Muhammad Safdar once again shined with the bat and scored unbeaten 170* runs while Ghulam Akbar chipped in with 60 runs. Aftab Hussain took 1 wicket.
In reply, Sheikhupura could only make 202 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in 20 overs. Sanwal Shahzada was their highest scorer with unbeaten 130* runs and Ashraf Bhatti made 26 runs. Muhammad Arslan claimed one wicket for Multan. Thus, Multan won the match with 86 runs.
The second semifinal was played between Abbottabad and Faisalabad.
Faisalabad won the toss and invited Abbottabad to bat first. Abbottabad posted a competitive total of 222 runs on the board for the loss of 4 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Riasat Khan played an extraordinary innings of unbeaten 128* runs and Asnaad Khan made 30 runs. Usman took 1 wicket for Faisalabad.
Faisalabad tried its best to reach the target but fell only 1 run short of the target. Faisalabad team was able to score 221 runs by loosing 5 wickets in 20 overs. Bilal Ali was their top scorer with 82 runs while Ejaz Hussain made 29 runs. Sohaib, Adeel and Naeem Ullah fetched 1 wicket each for Abbottabad. Abbottabad team won the match with one run.
The final match will be played between Multan and Abbottabad teams on October 14 at sports complex stadium.
