Malik, Sabir guide PIA to big win

A few days after he was dropped from the Pakistan squad for the tour of the West Indies, Shoaib Malik turned in an all-round performance to help Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) beat State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in a Ramadan T20 Cup match on Saturday.

Malik scored an unbeaten 58 and shared a 117-run opening stand with Agha Sabir as PIA chased down a target of 155 with more than two overs to spare. His innings, which came off 49 balls, included seven fours and a six. Sabir, who was out for a 47-ball 65, hit ten fours in his knock.

Malik was also the most succesful bowler for PIA, picking up two wickets for 22 runs, after SBP chose to bat first. SBP struggled for a better part of their innings, losing wickets regularly to reach a score of 98 for 5 off 15 overs. However, a late surge by Usman Saeed (41 off 29 balls) and Rizwan Haider (33 off 15 balls) saw them score 56 runs in the last five overs to reach a competitive total of 154 for 5