Pakistan domestic cricket have gotten their very own version of South Africa, Karachi Blues have reached the knock out stages 7 in the last few years and yet they have not been able to win any big final that matters the most.
Last night the Karachi Blues had their chances against a team which may have had a brilliant tournament but yet they lacked the experience the Blues has among their ranks with as many as eight international players including Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmad and Anwar Ali.
Another fantastic and never bending game of cricket it was at the Rawalpindi stadium. Peshawar won the toss and elected to field first as they have already done in 5 out of 6 games they won in the tournament.
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Blues had a nightmare in the first over when Imran Khan took away Shahzaib Anwar. He was caught by Adil who took a good catch at mid- wicket to give an early blow to the Blues. After that came some consolidation from Khurram Manzoor and Khalid Latif.
The two hit a fifty runs partnership before Imran Khan Jr. the star of the tournament bamboozled Khalid with a slow ball and Khalid chipped it back at him, an easy catch for Imran of his own bowling. In the middle order Blues had some little cameos from Asad, Afridi and Fawad.
It was Sarfraz who hit a fast 47 right at the end of the Blues innings that took their score to 177 which looked a lot more relaxing seeing the bowling quality of Blues. For Peshawar Imran Khan Jr. remain the maestro with three wickets to his name.
When Peshawar came into bat, it was again a repeat telecast of their previous batting shows. Rafat and Israr gave them the solid start which they have been giving in almost all the previous matches. After making 43 of 23 balls Rafat departed.
He was caught by Salman of the bowling of Anwar Ali. But by that time the initial damage was done. Blues break through after Rafat departed and in a quick session took Israr and Musadiq down. Peshawar went into pressure zone with 68 for 3.
In this hustle and bustle walked in Muhammad Rizwan who hit a magnificent and match winning fifty. He and Iftikhar hit a 110 runs partnership that sunk the ship for Blues. The pair hit the ball to each part of the stadium and stole the show for Peshawar.
Rizwan ended up with 58 of 34 balls while Iftikhar remained not out on 57 of 40 balls. The pair played excellent under pressure knocks and stole a certain victory from the Blues. For Blues Afridi, Anwar Ali and Abdul Ameer picked up one wicket each. Rizwan was titled with man of the mat award.
