Report

All-round Jannisar downs Quetta

A round-up of the fourth day's matches from the RBS Twenty20 Cup

Cricinfo staff
03-Mar-2010
Group A
Peshawar Panthers posted an easy 30-run win on the back of Jannisar Khan's unbeaten half-century and four wickets in an opening spell which snuffed out Quetta Bears' challenge at the National Stadium.
After opting to bat, Peshawar made a competitive 150 with only the top order carrying any weight. Israrullah and Adil Amin gave them a quick start, scoring 46 in five overs before Amin was dismissed by the economical Nasrullah Khan. Isrullah and Jannisar then shared a 26-run stand to keep the run-rate up but Quetta hit back with five quick wickets. Shoaib Khan jnr, bowling his medium-pace, snared three of them while the slow left-arm spin of Jalat Khan stemmed the runs in a spell of 4-0-16-1.
But the one man Quetta failed to dislodge turned out to be the decisive player in the end result. Jannisar finished unbeaten on 55 from 42 balls, hitting five fours and a six while adding 24 for the sixth wicket in 11 balls with Mahfooz Sabri. Sabri swung his bat for 17 off eight balls as Peshawar finished their innings on a high.
Quetta's chase began poorly, with Jannisar striking in his first over. He then grabbed three more in a super spell that included a maiden over, leaving Quetta at 46 for 4. That soon became 52 for 6. Taimur Siddiq's 19-ball 32 led a 52-run stand for the seventh wicket but his dismissal in the 16th over, bowled by Zohaib Khan, allowed Peshawar to regain control. Zohaib picked up his third wicket in the same crucial over and Quetta folded shortly afterward with Umar Gul nipping out the tail.
The result means that Peshawar have won one of three games and Quetta have yet to get off the mark in as many attempts.
Group C
Islamabad Leopards opened their tournament campaign with a facile nine-wicket win over Abbottabad Rhinos in Karachi. Abbottabad, after opting to bat, were rocked early in the piece by Islamabad's new-ball pair of Iftikhar Anjum and Azhar Mahmood, who quickly had them at 20 for 4. Mahmood was destructive in his spell, taking three wickets, and it needed a circumspect 53-ball 54 from the opener Yasir Hameed to lend respectability to Abbottabad's total. His dismissal to Iftikhar in the 17th over was followed by Mohammad Kashif's 34 as Abbottabad made it to 117 from 20 overs.
Islamabad's openers, Raheel Majeed and Umair Khan, went about the chase steadily. Majeed led the scoring initially without accelerating, and none of the bowlers rotated were able to make an impact. After playing second fiddle to Majeed for seven overs, hardly getting strike, Khan opened up with a four and six to jack up the run rate. The pair raised the fifty stand at a good clip and after ten overs Islamabad were well set on 70.
That's when Mohammad Sami dismissed Majeed for 35 in the same over that he was struck for six, but Mohammad Yousuf's first-ball four maintained the tone the openers had set. Yousuf's breezy unbeaten 27 from 22 balls helped finish the affair in the 17th over. Khan hit the winning runs and finished on 40 from 35 balls. Abbottabad have failed to win either of their two games so far.