Shehzad ton takes Lahore to final

Ahmed Shehzad's second T20 ton fired Lahore Lions to the final of the Faysal Bank T20 Cup with a 51-run win against first-timers Bahawalpur Stags at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Shehzad started the match at a rapid pace with a flurry of boundaries and by the time he lost his opening partner, he had scored 39 off 20 balls in a 41-run opening stand. He stayed dominant in a 96-run stand with Mohammad Hafeez and brought up his hundred off 54 balls. Once Shehzad was out, Hafeez lifted up the tempo, taking 24 runs off an Imranullah Aslam's over, and took the team past 200. Kamran Hussain picked up four wickets, three of them in the last over.

Chasing a big target, Bahawalpur were dented by Abdul Razzaq's double-strike in the first over, Hamid Ali and Kashif Siddiq, both falling off their first balls. At the halfway mark, Bahawalpur had lost four wickets and the required rate had shot up to 14.20. As the wickets continued to tumble, the lower order flayed and got some runs, but it was all too late and Bahawalpur were knocked out after making a promising debut in the tournament.

Faisalabad Wolves 122 for 5 (Ali 66*) beat Multan Tigers 120 for 7 (Yasin 46, Ali 2-17) by five wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

After being behind for the most part of their chase of 121, Faisalabad accelerated towards the end to complete a five-wicket win against Multan Tigers at the Gaddafi Stadium and qualify for the final. Their 21-year old No. 4 Asif Ali rescued them after they had been reduced to 78 for 5 in the 15th over, and eventually finished the game with an unbeaten 66 off 50 deliveries, with the help of seven fours and two sixes.

After choosing to bat, Multan went slow for most part of their innings. After having lost their openers by the fifth over, Naved Yasin set about steadying the innings with Gulraiz Sadaf, and later with three other batsmen, but played slowly. He lasted till the 19th over, but scored only four boundaries in his run-a-ball knock of 46, as Multan limped to 120 for 7. Of the five bowlers used, only one bowler conceded more than 23 runs - seamer Ehsan Adil.

Faisalabad, in their chase, were slow as well. They lost wickets regularly, and had scored only 46 runs when captain Misbah-ul-Haq was dismissed for a 16-ball 5, in the 11th over. But Ali stuck till the end, reducing the required run-rate by smashing a few needed boundaries and sixes, and took his side to victory in the 19th over.