Raza guides Dolphins home in thriller

Sind Dolphins 307 for 7 (Raza 78, Shahzaib 62) beat Baluchistan Bears 303 for 8 (Abid 94, Rameez 52) by three wickets
Scorecard

It went down to the last ball at the National Stadium as Hasan Raza kept his cool under pressure to guide Sind Dolphins home by three wickets in a high-scorer against Baluchistan Bears. Chasing 304, the Dolphins were boosted by a strong opening stand, then lost their way, recovered again through a fifty-run stand between Raza and Sarfraz Ahmed and then fought against the asking rate. Raza however ensured he stayed right till the end with 78 to finish the job.

The match had the makings of a high-scorer when the Bears duo of Taufeeq Umer and Abid Ali added a massive 147 for Baluchistan's second wicket. Taufeeq hit five fours in his 74 but Abid was the more aggressive of the pair, hitting 11 fours in his 94. The Dolphins hit back to take three wickets for 11 runs, with Danish Kaneria picking up two of those. The lower order then rallied around Rameez Alam, who scored a quick 52 off 35 balls to take the score past 300. Anwar Ali took three wickets but was hammered for 72 off his ten overs.

The Dolphins were given a boost by their openers, Shahzaib Hasan and Khurram Manzoor, who added 110 in just under 19 overs. Much like in the first innings, a century stand was followed by a wicket burst as the Dolphins lost three wickets for five runs. Sarfraz and Raza came together in the 26th over and added 71 to put them back on track. Lal Kumar eased the pressure off Raza with a breezy 27 off 14 balls after Sarfraz departed. But Dolphins were left to play catch-up in the final stages and when the last over began, they needed more than a run a ball. Raza levelled the scores off the penultimate ball and sealed the win with a boundary.