Ayub's all-round show, Hasnain's early strikes take Panthers into final
Ayub took a career-best 5 for 24 and then scored 33 to help Panthers chase down 138
ESPNcricinfo staff
24-Sep-2024
Saim Ayub took 5 for 24 and then scored 33 to set up the chase • PCB
Panthers 143 for 3 (Usman 54*, Ayub 33, Javed 1-20) beat Markhors 137 (Agha 52, Iftikhar 39, Ayub 5-24, Hasnain 3-25) by seven wickets
Mohammad Hasnain and Saim Ayub put in strong performances to take Panthers into the final of the Champions Cup with a seven-wicket win over Markhors. It was also the first win for the chasing team in the tournament.
Batting first after winning the toss, Markhors had a poor start as Ali Raza dismissed Haseebullah Khan in the second over of the game. The real damage, though, was done by Hasnain, who sent back Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Rizwan to leave Markhors on 25 for 4 in the seventh over.
Salman Agha and Iftikhar Ahmed staged a mini-recovery, adding 77 for the fifth wicket but once Iftikhar was run out, Markhors collapsed again, to be all out for 137 in 36 overs. Their unlikely tormentor was Ayub, who picked up 5 for 24 with his part-time legbreaks. It was the first time he took more than two wickets in any form of senior cricket.
Panthers lost Azan Awais early in the chase but Ayub kept them on track with 33 off 36 balls. And even though Ayub and Umar Siddiq fell in quick succession, Usman Khan smashed 54 not out off just 26 balls to take the side home in the 24th over.
Markhors will now face the winner of the first eliminator, between Stallions and Lions, on Friday.