Just sit, relax, garb some popcorn if you like and see the ball sailing out of the park, when Mohammad Hafeez bats. The Lahore Lions skipper was at his dazzling best against the Southern Express and paced his innings so nicely that no one noticed when he cruised to a half-century.
The Lions needed to win the game against a team that, atleast in this tournament, is habitual of coming second. But with a team from Pakistan, you never know when they crumble like a cookie and hand an easy win to the opponents.
Hafeez, however, made sure that the Pakistan national T20 champions remain well on course to reach the main round and scored a 40-ball 67, featuring four sixes and five fours, to help his team register a 55-run victory over the Islanders.
The Hafeez-led side got an ideal start, after put into bat, as the openers Umar Siddiq and Ahmed Shehzad made a 40-run partnership. Meanwhile, as the Pakistan team was cruising nicely, a destructive spell from Farveez Maharoof put them on the backfoot.
Maharoof struck thrice to send Siddiq (18), Shehzad (29) and Nasir Jamshed (1) back to the pavilion inside twelve runs. Saad Nasim and Hafeez then started the recovery work and stitched a 75-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Lahore seemed to have recovered from the quick blows during the partnership but there were not enough runs on the board to create any sort of a panic in the Express dugout. Then came Hafeez’s assault as the captain as he thrashed the Express bowlers all over the park.
Chasing a competitive total, Jehan Mubarak’s side was never in control as pacemen Aizaz Cheema and Wahab Riaz derailed the Express even before it started to run. Cheema, in particular, was lethal with the new-ball and ripped through the top-order.
The Lahore quicky sent Kusal Perera (8), Danushka Gunathilaka (0) and Tillakaratne Sampath (18) to create pressure. These were the blows from which the Sri Lankan side never recovered and succumbed to a 55-run lose.
Skipper Mubarak was the lone fighter for the Express and made 26-ball 35 but it was insufficient as he got no support from the other end. The Lions kept picking wickets on regular intervals and bundled their opponent for just 109 in 18 overs.
