T20 Cricket News

Faisalabad Wolves opener Mohammad Hafeez picked the perfect time to smash the first century of the tournament, his 53-ball 100 sinking Lahore Lions in the semi-finals at the National Stadium. Hafeez's effort was the cornerstone of Faisalabad's 211, the first 200-plus total of the competition, which proved 45 runs too many for Lahore.

After being sent in, Hafeez plundered 117 runs with Asif Hussain at 10-an-over to drive Faisalabad towards a big score. It was Hussain who was the aggressor in the early overs, before Hafeez opened out. There was no let-up in the momentum even when Hussain fell for a 34-ball 54 in the 12th over - the next over, from Waqas Ahmed, was actually the most expensive of the innings, Hafeez blasting a six and three fours to take 20 runs. Hafeez was dismissed in the 17th over after crashing 16 fours and two sixes with the score at 176, after which Waqas Ali's cameo made sure Faisalabad crossed 200.

Lahore didn't wilt in the face of the big target, making a spirited start to the chase despite losing Nasir Jamshed early. Salman Butt and the Akmal brothers kept up with the asking-rate but no one besides Butt could sustain the onslaught. The fight went out of Lahore with the loss of Kashif Siddiq and Waqas Ahmed in consecutive overs in the middle of the innings. The asking-rate started to grow and when Butt was dismissed for 59 in the 15th over, the match was all but decided.

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