Khyber Pakhtunkhwa began their title defense with a solid victory over an experienced Central Punjab side. Central Punjab won the toss and decided to field first, hoping that they would restrict KP to a modest total.
KP’s captain, Mohammad Rizwan, continued his red hot form as he scored yet another T20 half-century. Rizwan was ably supported by Iftikhar Ahmed who scored 40 runs off 25 balls, helping KP to reach a big total of 187/5.
Central Punjab had no answer to the brilliant bowling display by KP. Pakistan’s ace left-arm pacer, Shaheen Afridi, stole the show as he picked up 3 wickets for only 25 runs in his four overs. Central Punjab’s middle-order batsman, Mohammad Akhlaq’s late flurry, 62 off 35 balls, was not enough as KP restricted them to 151/9 in their 20 overs.
KP won the match by 36 runs and moved to the top of the 2021 National T20 Cup points table.
Check out the updated 2021 National T20 Cup Points Table
