KARACHI: Last two league matches of 3rd PPL Blind Cricket Super League were played today. Based on which and the final Points Table, Balochistan and Sindh will compete for winner title.
The final of the event will be played tomorrow, the 15th February 2020 at Cricket Ground PAF Faisal Base Karachi.
Match No. 9
Islamabad Vs Balochistan – Venue: Rashid Latif Cricket Academy, Karachi
The 1st match and the 9th match of the event was played between Islamabad and Balochistan.
It was to do or die situation for Islamabad, to win and with a big margin to stay in the contention of the Final and for Balochistan, situation was bit easier that if not win then loss by a narrow margin to keep the Net Run Rate higher to Islamabad.
Till yesterday, Sindh already qualified for the final with 9 points, Balochistan has 6 and Islamabad if wins then will also have 6 points, Punjab also has 3 points and were playing against Sindh in the other ground but their NRR was meager so the 2nd top team could have been decided by Net Run Rate.
Islamabad won the toss and rightly opted to bowl first with the intention to restrict Balochistan on low score and then to chase it quickly.
Islamabad bowled well and didn’t allow Balochistan Batsmen to play freely in first 15 overs. But the class of Badar Munir spoke for itself, he cut loose in the middle overs of the innings and took calculated risks. His masterpiece innings of 179 runs off 95 balls with the help of 30 boundaries helped Balochistan to score 350 runs all out in allotted 40 overs. Shafiullah supported Badar by scoring 60 runs, they together made 191 runs for 2nd wicket partnership. For Islamabad Anees Javed and Ihtesham took 2 wickets each.
Islamabad target was 351 runs in 40 overs but to surpass the Balochistan Net Run Rate, Islamabad required to chase 351 runs in 30.3 overs to get place in the FINAL. Captain Anees Javed and Muhammad Safdar started the chase well and scored 115 runs in 11 overs.
Thereafter, Sajid Nawaz bowled Anees Javed on 44 runs and Muhammad Safdar also threw his wicket to steal a quick single in the same over, he made 65 runs off 37 balls, those two quick wickets unwrapped the chances of success for Balochistan team.
Afterwards, Muhammad Usman ran through the formidable batting line of Islamabad by taking 6 wickets rapidly. Islamabad batsmen fell like house of cards and whole team was bowled on just 176 runs in 17 overs. Muhammad Usman was the rocking bowling star for Balochistan with his 6 wickets for 89 runs in 8 overs. Badar Munir took 2 wickets and Sajid Nawaz bowled only one over and claimed 1 wicket.
Result: Balochistan won by 174 runs
Man of the Match: Badar Munir
Match No 10
Punjab Vs Sindh – Venue: PAF Faisal Airbase Ground, Karachi
Event’s last league match was played between Punjab and Sindh. Punjab won the toss and decided to bat 1st.
Punjab lost first 5 wickets on mere 70 runs in 10 overs. Thereafter, Mohsin Khan and Israr Hassan made centuries and piled up 379 runs in stipulated 40 overs. Punjab lost 8 wickets in process. Mohsin Khan made 106 off 73 balls and Israr Hasan scored 102 runs. For Sindh, Shahzaib Hayder, Muhammad Shahzaib and Saqib Ali took 2 wickets each.
Sindh Team hasen’t lost a single match in this tournament maintained the winning spree. Sanaullah Khan Marwat, who scored double century in yesterday match couldn’t last long today and got out after scoring 7 runs. Shahzaib Hayder was promoted in batting order and played a fine-looking innings of 169 runs off 101 balls featuring 22 (4’s) and 1 six. Muhammad Faysal innings of 110 runs off 67 balls was also spectacular.
Sindh eyeing the easy win get relaxed and 5 quick wickets taken by Mohsin Khan caused mini collapse in Batting at the end. Sindh creeped and crossed the line in 35 overs for the loss of 9 wickets. Noman Tahir’s unbeaten innings of 22 runs recused Sindh in the deck overs.
Mohsin Khan 5 wickets for 63 runs was the best amongst the bowlers for Punjab.
Result: Sindh won by 1 wicket
Man of the Match: Shahzaib Hayder
Event Brief:
Five teams took part in the event, Sindh won all four matches and topped the points table, Balochitsan won three games and finished 2nd on the points table. Islamabad, KPK and Punjab won only 1 match each out of played 4.
Sindh and Balochistan, the two top teams on points table stormed into the final of the 3rd PPL Blind Cricket Super League.
Final Points Table
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Tie | Points | Net run rate |
| Sindh | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | +1.330 |
| Balochistan | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | +2.313 |
| KPK Blind | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -0.791 |
| Islamabad | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -1.120 |
| Punjab | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | -1.895 |
