Malik, Afridi's heroics win KP National T20 title

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa put up an all-round performance to beat Southern Punjab by 10 runs in the final to clinch the National T20 Cup 2020 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

Shoaib Malik's cameo of 56 not-out off 22 balls propelled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to a daunting total of 206-4 while three wickets each from bowling duo of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Wahab Riaz ensured that the Southern batsmen do not go beyond 196-8. Southern Punjab Captain Shan Masood won the toss and elected to field first.

It was the eighth occasion in the tournament when Southern Punjab bowlers conceded over 200 runs and the total proved too big to achieve for the team in the end. Considering the bench strength of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, they were the favourites to win but the momentum was with the Southern Punjab team which had a late surge in the tournament and made to the finals by beating current champions in the semi-final. Though Khyber Pakhtunkhwa openers Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan scored a healthy 76 for the first wicket partnership by the 10th over, they were precariously placed at 126-3 towards the close of the 15th over when Shoaib Malik joined Mohammad Hafeez at the crease.

Hafeez who scored 38 off 26 balls played by fits and starts and was given three chances due to sloppy fielding of the Southern Punjab fielders before he was caught at deep midwicket by Mohammad Ilyas off the bowling of Mohammad Imran in the 19th over with total at 177-4. Malik and Mohammad Hafeez accumulated 51 runs in 24 balls.