RAWALPINDI: Babar Azam led from the front to guide Central Punjab to a commanding eight-wicket victory over the defending champions Northern in the 15th match of the National T20 Cup.
Northern who entered the match on a 10-match winning streak in the National T20 Cup had no answers to Babar’s brilliance with the bat. Babar and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf made their first appearance in the tournament.
Chasing a relatively competitive target, Central Punjab coasted to 167 for two in a mere 17 overs with Babar returning unbeaten with a typically elegant 86 off 52 balls.
Faheem followed his four-wicket bowling spell to make 52 off 26 balls. The two added 105 runs for their unbroken third wicket partnership in a mere 51 balls.
Central Punjab lost Kamran Akmal for 21 and Abdullah Shafiq for three when Faheem joined Babar at the crease.
Batting first after winning the toss, Northern made a fine recovery to post 165 for nine after their top-order was removed by an inspired spell of pace bowling by Faheem who took three wickets in his two over opening burst conceding a mere seven runs.
Faheem sent back Zeeshan Malik (9), Sohail Akhtar (17) and Rohail Nazir (4) to leave Northern tottering at 52 for four. Left-armer Sohaibullah made the first breakthrough when he dismissed Umar Amin for a duck.
