In February, the second round of the 6th Disabled National T20 Cricket Championship was played in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, where the weather was very pleasant and a little cold. The matches of the second phase of the event were held in a splendid and smooth manner. Teams from Peshawar, Islamabad, Sialkot, FATA, Azad Kashmir, Abbottabad, Lahore and host Rawalpindi participated in this phase. The best competitive cricket was seen in the group matches which has been the hallmark of the Pakistan Disabled Cricket Team. In the last league match, Islamabad defeated Lahore on the last ball of the match to make it to the semi-finals. The match between Sialkot and Abbottabad was tied, which gives an idea of how high the standard of cricket will be in this event. All the matches of the second phase of the championship were played at Diamond Cricket Ground and Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
After the group matches, Islamabad from Group C and Peshawar from Group D had qualified for the semi-finals. Where it competed with the winner of the semi-finals of the Karachi stage, Multan. In the semi-finals, Peshawar won the toss and invited Islamabad to bat, which could be considered their mistake. The hosts scored 139 for 9, with Shafiq Ahmed scoring 74 off 47 balls with seven sixes, Ali Abbas scoring 17 and Adeel Abbasi 15. Abdullah Afridi took three for 17 and captain Nahar Alam took two for 11.
Peshawar’s team consisted of the best disabled cricketers, so the 140-run target was considered achievable, but when Peshawar’s innings began, Peshawar’s strong team was bowled out for just 97 in front of the host Islamabad’s bowling and the match ended at 42 runs. Lost Only Abdullah Afridi (18) and captain Nahar Alam (16) could resist. From Islamabad, Waqif Shah was responsible for Peshawar’s devastation with four wickets for 24 runs. Malik Kashif gave away 10 runs for three and Hamiat Khan took two wickets for 15 runs to confirm his team’s place in the final. Waqif Shah and Shafiq Ahmed were declared joint man of the match. After winning the semi-final, host Islamabad faced Multan in the final. Multan team was the defending champion while this was the first final of Islamabad team.
In the final, Multan defeated Islamabad to complete the hat trick of winning the championship while Islamabad’s dream of winning the National trophy for the first time could not be realized. In the final, Islamabad won the toss and invited Multan to bat, which later proved to be a terrible mistake. Defending champions Multan scored 231 runs, with captain Matool Qureshi unbeaten 76, Majid Hussain 74 and Jahanzeb Towana. Scored 49 runs. Waqif Shah and Zubair Khan took one wicket each for Islamabad. In reply, in pursuit of a big target, the hosts Islamabad were limited to 172 for 9, with Adil Abbasi scoring 51, Usman Paracha 37, Saeem Ali 30 and Mohammad Naeem 25. Zubair Saleem took three wickets while Mohammad Sarfraz and Ameez-ur-Rehman took two wickets each. Wanted Qureshi declared Man of the Final
Multan’s Qureshi Championship was declared the best batsman of the event by scoring 220 runs, Multan’s Jahanzeb Towana was declared the best bowler with 9 wickets while Multan’s Majid Hussain was awarded Man of the Tournament for scoring 193 runs and taking 4 wickets. went . (to be continued). Higher authorities of PCB and former Test cricket Abdur Razzaq and Muhammad Wasim was present at the prize distribution ceremony.
The Pakistan Disabled Cricket Association (PDCA) is responsible for the promotion and expansion of the game through its associate and affiliate members throughout the country for all the Physically Disabled Cricketers of the country and PDCA is also recognized by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) who is the governing body of cricket in Pakistan.