Babar Azam: Southern Punjab lost its sixth consecutive game. With Central Punjab beating its provincial rivals with seven wickets to eliminate them from the semi-finals.
SP came under immediate pressure after Faheem Ashraf eliminated the two starting players in the first over. Agha Salman and Azam Khan seemed to have got them back on track. With an 84-run stoppage, but when it broke, SP completely collapsed. Hasan Ali pushed his way through the sequence with four windows when CP lifted it with ease. The last eight wickets falling for 34 runs to leave CP chasing a straightforward 120.
The hunt was as easy as possible with Babar Azam taking full control from the start. An undefeated 59 formed the backbone of CP’s innings. With Kamran Akmal playing the part of it for the second wicket association. CP never needed to get out of second gear. And finally freed SP from his misery in round 18, both overnight and in the tournament.
A stormy 90-race partnership on the fifth field between Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan helped Northern rebound. From losing four early wickets and defeating Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by 14 runs.
Table-toppers KP was the first to use Northern, and Shaheen Afridi immediately lobbied them in a glorious first time for eliminating Ali Imran and Haider Ali. Northern remodeled with a 50-race Thirdwicket booth only to lose another pair in quick succession. But they stuck to his plans, with insiders Nawaz and Shadab launching a formidable counterattack, with the next 90 runs in nine overs as Nawaz broke a 34ball 51, his second half-century in three games. Shadabs 27ball 46 was the shooting guard, and thanks to a helpful cameo from Asif Ali, Northern hit 181.
KP’s response lacked the necessary intention to pursue a considerable sum in most of the first ten overs, hampered by the initial losses of Mohammad Rizwan and Sahibzada Farhan. As demand increased, Iftikhar Ahmed once again led his team into the fray with a glorious half-century, but a lack of support from the other side kept KP slightly behind the game. And when Haris Rauf, playing with three wickets, put Iftikhar in, all doubts were dispelled and a Northern clinician finished with an impressive victory.
Click here: IPL 2021: MS Dhoni completes 100 catches for CSK, sets unused competition record
Read more about: Eoin Morgan says “Vast improvements from two days ago” in the IPL 2021
Visit also: Bubble fatigues forces PBKS Chris Gayle to leave IPL