National T20 Cup: Abbottabad edge past Multan in last-ball thriller

2026-03-09 - 08:54

Abbottabad and Karachi Blues secured victories against Multan and Sialkot, respectively, on the second day of the National T20 Cup at Peshawar’s Imran Khan Stadium on Sunday night. Kamran Ghulam’s unbeaten 95, along with Khushdil Shah’s last-ball six, powered Abbottabad to a thrilling eight-wicket win against Multan. Needing 19 off the final over, bowled by pacer Hasan Hafeez, Abbottabad collected two runs from the first two balls before Kamran launched the third delivery for a six, reducing the equation to 11 off three. Kamran then ran two doubles off the next two balls, leaving his side needing seven off the last delivery, with six required to force a tie. He could only sky the final ball, a waist-high full toss, off which they managed only a single. Abbottabad were thrown a lifeline when replays showed the ball was over Kamran’s waistline, turning it into a no-ball and leaving five needed off the extra delivery. Khushdil, who was batting on 24 off 16 with the help of a six and a four by then, sealed the dramatic win by pulling another full toss over fine leg for a maximum. Earlier, Multan had slipped to 16 for two inside 2.1 overs, losing both their opening batter, Mohammad Naeem and Imam-ul-Haq. Debutant Moheer Saeed then combined with Bismillah Khan (45) to put Multan on the track to the tournament’s first 200-run total. Moheer’s commanding 41-ball 76-run knock comprised eight fours and four sixes as the duo added 113 runs for the third wicket to lift their side to 129 after 12.3 overs. Muhammad Shahzad’s unbeaten 54 off 26 featuring four fours and as many sixes lifted Multan to 203-6 in 20 overs. In the second game of the day, Karachi Blues bowled Sialkot out for 161 in 19.4 overs while defending their 201 all-out total. Asked to bat first, Karachi Blues were led by opening batter Ahsan Ali, who struck a 27-ball 50 featuring five fours and three sixes. Player of the match Usman kept the Karachi innings intact with a powerful 81 off 39 balls featuring nine fours and five sixes after he walked in the sixth over and departed in the 19th. In response, Sialkot first lost their opening batters with 23 runs on the board in 3.3 overs and then slipped to 79-6 in 10.4 overs. Skipper Usama Mir top-scored with a 31-ball 63, hitting six fours and four sixes in a late fightback after Sialkot were faced with a daunting task of scoring 123 off 56 balls. Usama shared a 46-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Hamza Nazar, but in vain as right-arm pacer Khalil Ahmed removed the duo, picking the last three of the four Sialkot wickets to fall. Lahore, Karachi bag wins on opening day of National T20 Cup