Rawalpindi clinch title after Super Over

Rawalpindi Rams 164 (Zia 43, Sohail 5-23) beat Karachi Dolphins (Rameez 64, Hasan 3-24) via Super Over
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Eighteen-year-old left-arm spinner Raza Hasan was the hero for Rawalpindi Rams as he held his nerve in the Super Over to hand them the Faysal Bank Super Eight T20 title. Rawalpindi seemed to have fluffed their chances of victory against Karachi Dolphins at the Iqbal Stadium when they managed only one run in the final four balls of their chase of 165 to leave the game tied. But after they smashed 16 in the Super Over it was Karachi's turn to flounder, scoring only one off the final four deliveries of their over to slump to defeat. Sohail Khan took five wickets for Karachi but it wasn't enough to secure victory.

Awais Zia did all the scoring for Rawalpindi in the Super Over, slapping two fours and a six to negate the effect of the two dot balls he played. It was a tough target for Karachi but Khalid Latif began with a big six over long-on. The 18-year-old Hasan, though, hit back by getting Latif to top-edge to short fine-leg off the next ball. The third delivery saw a dropped catch which resulted in a single, and then Hasan bowled three dot balls in a row as Shahzaib Hasan struggled to get bat on ball.

There was plenty of drama before the closing skirmish too. Karachi had made a sluggish start after being sent in, reaching 34 for 1 in five overs, before the batsman of the tournament, Rameez Raja, gave the innings some impetus with two fours and two sixes in the sixth over. His partner Asad Shafiq was dismissed lbw by Hasan for a 26-ball 36 and that again slowed the Karachi innings. Though they had blasted 91 in the first ten overs, and had wickets in hand, they could only add 73 in the last ten.

Rawalpindi's chase got off to a horror start as Sohail struck twice in the second over. Zia slammed six fours in eight deliveries to inject some momentum into the chase before another double-strike from Sohail, in the sixth over, left Rawalpindi gasping at 56 for 4. A flurry of boundaries from Adnan Mufti kept them alive before a couple of sixes from Hammad Azam evened the game.

Two big hits from Mohammad Rameez made it 22 needed off the final three overs with three wickets in hand. Sohail returned to revive Karachi, getting Rameez with a slower yorker and giving away only three runs in the 18th over. Rawalpindi scrambled 10 off the next over and when Umar Amin muscled the second ball of Azam Hussain's final over for six, Rawalpindi needed only two to win off four deliveries. They couldn't get them, though, and Amin watched helplessly as wickets fell off the final two balls with the scores level. Any momentum Karachi may have gained from clawing back to tie the game proved meaningless in the Super Over as Hasan repaid the faith his captain showed in him.