Anwar 97 helps Stallions gallop to title

Teenage opening batsman Nauman Anwar's 54-ball 97 helped Sialkot Stallions post a total of 197 before their spinners throttled Lahore Lions by 74 runs in the final.

Electing to bat, Stallions lost three wickets inside four overs, but managed to race away to 39 by then. Anwar and Haris Sohail, who scored 47 off 34 balls, then put on 111 runs in 11.2 overs, effectively batting Lions out of the game. By the time Anwar was dismissed in the 16th over, he had struck 10 fours and six sixes.

Despite no other batsman contributing significantly - only two others crossed double figures - Stallions ensured the scoring-rate didn't drop. Aizaz Cheema picked up four wickets while left-arm spinner Qaiser Ashraf claimed three scalps.

Lions' chase began on the wrong note, as they lost Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez inside the first two overs before slumping to 25 for 4. Umar Akmal and Saad Nasim shared a 37-run stand, but after Umar was removed by off-spinner Bilal Asif for a 30-ball 35, there wasn't much by way of resistance. Stallions' spinners - Asif, Sultan Ahmed, Mukhtar Ahmed and captain Shoaib Malik - picked up seven of the eight wickets to fall.