Hasan, Hussain set up Port Qasim win

Port Qasim Authority sneaked past Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) by six runs in a rain-curtailed Group B tie of the Ramadan T20. Needing 21 to win off the final over, Zafar Gohar hit two sixes but fell off the last ball to mark Port Qasim's second win in as many matches

Shahzaib Hasan constructed a good platform for Port Qasim after they lost the toss, scoring nearly twice as many runs as his partner Khalid Latif to power their 55-run opening stand. Port Qasim were cruising at 83 for 1 in 11 overs when three wickets fell in ten balls, including that of Hasan for 48, and returned balance to the match. Afsar Nawaz struck a timely cameo but Hussain Talat, who along with Gohar claimed five of the seven wickets, limited Port Qasim to 145.

Rain delayed the start of the chase and curtailed it to 14 overs. ZTBL, chasing a revised target of 112, lost a sluggish Sharjeel Khan in the third over. Eighteen-year old Babar Azam struck 22 off 13 balls but fell eight balls after Shakeel Ansar's dismissal to leave ZTBL at 43 for 3 in six overs. Azam Hussain, who picked up 4 for 17, dealt a further blow by removing the captain Imran Nazir and Talat in the next six balls. Gohar and Atif Ashraf shared a productive 34-run stand for the seventh wicket but the Ashraf's fall in the 13th over, still 21 runs adrift, left Gohar with too much to do at the end.