KARACHI: For the second straight night in Rawalpindi, rainfalls got here to ruin National T20 Mug action after a wonderful exhibition of power-hitting from thrown out Pakistan star Shoaib Malik.

And also once more it was the fielding side to gain from the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) approach of estimations at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday night.

Sindh– champions over Northern late on Friday by 3 runs in similar situations– went to the obtaining end this time around as Central Punjab barked back in contention for the semi-finals by getting hold of a 12-run accomplishment after rainfalls dented Sindh’s 169-run chase.

Sindh were taking a look at Anwar Ali for big-hitting but the moment the all-rounder sliced a catch in the direction of Wahab Riaz at deep factor, the players scooted off the area– specifically at 10:41 pm– as the heavens opened with Sarfaraz Ahmed’s charges down in the goo at 110-6 after 14.4 overs.

While Sharjeel Khan was firing on all cylinders, it was a various tale with Sindh very much the favourites to scratch up their 5th win in six trips. Their powerplay rating of 66 was double that of attained by Babar Azam’s side.

Yet the departure of Sharjeel– who launched the chase by including 48 in 28 spheres with Khurram Manzoor for the very first arch– at the total of 80 in the 9th over entitled the equilibrium dramatically in favour of Central Punjab. The left-handed powerhouse had bludgeoned 36 off 29 shipments (three fours and 2 sixes) before being tricked airborne by upcoming all-rounder Qasim Akram.

Qasim, who bowls off-spin, placed Sindh in much deeper trouble by having Sarfaraz (7) caught nicely by Babar at brief midwicket and afterwards capturing his former Pakistan U-19 team-mate Mohammad Taha LBW for eight to end up a brilliant four-over spell with figures of 3-20.

Earlier in the evening Central Punjab had a hard time after Babar picked to bat. Yet the time the 15th over was done and also cleaned they had actually plunged to 105-6. Yet Malik was not going anywhere and yet once more verified his actual value, provided the lots of T20 cricket experience behind him.

The former Pakistan captain created the innings of the event thus far as he unleashed a wonderful 85 from just 47 distributions. The right-handed stalwart posted his 67th half-century in the layout with a spectacular assault and pursued pacer Mohammad Hasnain off whom he took 22 runs in the 19th over.

Malik’s risky player-of-the-match performance saw him strike eight fours and also 5 6s.

Rumman Raees Khan was the standout bowler despite acknowledging 14 in the last over of the Central Punjab innings. The left-arm seamer claimed 4-33.

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Scoreboard

CENTRAL PUNJAB:

Ahmed Shehzad st Sarfaraz b Abrar 35

Babar Azam lbw b Hasnain 12

Mohammad Akhlaq c Hasnain b Rumman 7

Shoaib Malik not out 85

Qasim Akram lbw b Abrar 8

Hussain Talat c Sarfaraz b Rumman 1

Hasan Ali c Sarfaraz b Abrar 12

Wahab Riaz c Khurram b Rumman 3

Ehsan Adil lbw b Rumman 0

Usman Qadir not out 1

BONUS (W-4) 4

OVERALL (for eight wkts, 20 overs) 168

FALL OF WKTS: 1-18, 2-29, 3-71, 4-85, 5-92, 6-105, 7-132, 8-154.

DID NOT BAT: Sameen Gul.

BOWLING: Anwar Ali 4-0-34-0 (2w); Mohammad Hasnain 4-0-40-1 (1w); Rumman Raees Khan 4-0-33-4 (1w); Shahnawaz Dahani 4-0-22-0; Abrar Ahmed 4-0-39-3.

SINDH:

Khurram Manzoor b Sameen 14

Sharjeel Khan st Akhlaq b Qasim 36

Shan Masood c Akhlaq b Wahab 12

Saud Shakeel not out 14

Sarfaraz Ahmed c Babar b Qasim 7

Mohammad Taha lbw b Qasim 8

Anwar Ali c Wahab b Sameen 4

ADDITIONALS (B-1, LB-13, NB-1) 15

TOTAL (for 6 wkts, 14.4 overs) 110

LOSS OF WKTS: 1-48, 2-76, 3-80, 4-88, 5-104, 6-110.

DID NOT BAT: Rumman Raees Khan, Mohammad Hasnain, Abrar Ahmed, Shahnawaz Dahani.

BOWLING: Ehsan Adil 2-0-21-0; Sameen Gul 2.4-0-15-2; Hasan Ali 2-0-18-0 (1nb); Qasim Akram 4-0-20-3; Wahab Riaz 2-0-11-1; Usman Qadir 2-0-11-0.

OUTCOME: Central Punjab won by 12 runs (DLS Method).

UMPIRES: Imtiaz Iqbal and also Saqib Khan.

TELEVISION UMPIRE: Nasir Hussain.

SUIT UMPIRE: Iftikhar Ahmed.

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Shoaib Malik (Central Punjab).