White Hunterz 257/5 in 20 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 86, Junaid Shamshu 65, Ghulam Murtaza 1/34) defeated AL-Fahim 222/7 in 20 overs (Ghulam Farid 77, Tosif 35, Ashok Kumar 2/25) by 35 runs
When the preview of first Volcano T-20 cup semifinal highlighted the importance of tackling two giants from the Hunterz XI, Ahsan Riaz, and Surjith, not many would have thought that Hunterz can probably do fine without them clicking in the semifinal too. The two players who made it to the cricheroes watchlist throughout the league phase, failed to have any impact in the second most important game of the tournament for their team. But the outcome had minimal outcome on the result of the game as Mohammad Rizwan and Junaid Shamshu plundered the AL- Fahim bowlers all around the park and registered another score in excess of 250.
Earlier in the day (or we can say night), Hunterz won the toss and with the kind of batting lineup they had, they knew what to do. Iqbal caught the big fish early when he had Ahsan caught for 7 in the very second over. The happiness, however, was short-lived for AL-Fahim as Rizwan and Ashok added 102 off just 47 balls. While Ashok rotated the strike, Rizwan took on the bowlers. After a couple of silent overs, Rizwan went all guns blazing. Mohammad Usman narrowly escaped the nightmare in the ninth over when Rizwan smoked him for four sixes in a row of first four balls. Usman recovered off the last two balls but the damage was done by then.
Hunterz lost Rizwan (86) and Ashok (21) in quick succession between tenth and eleventh over. AL-Fahim had an opportunity to fight back from there but the pair of Junaid (65 off 29) and Irfan (38 off 21) ensured that any miracle remained a dream for AL-Fahim bowlers. The pair gunned down 87 runs off just 38 balls and the stage for a target in excess of 250 was set for AL-Fahim. Some late blows from Wazir (26 off 11) took the White Hunterz past 250. They finished with 257 in their quota of 20 overs. The only bowler who escaped beatings was Ghulam Murtaza who finished with the figures of 1/34 in his quota of 4 overs. None of the other AL-Fahim bowlers could manage an economy rate of less than 11.
A required run rate of 12.85 from ball one can demoralize any batting lineup in the world, at any level. Those who observed the pitch in the first inning however still gave a chance to AL-Fahim. Their start was not as great and they lost Chathura on the third ball of the inning. But the next four overs bought them 64 runs and by the time powerplays were over, they had 76 on the board. They lost Iqbal (25) just after the powerplay but their fight was on till the eleventh over. The chase was on track till the halfway mark. AL-Fahim managed to score 117 from their first 10 overs and they were going close to their required run rate for the most part of these 10 overs. But just when everyone thought that the game was heading towards a crunch finish, AL-Fahim lost both their set batsmen Ghulam Farid (77 off 32) and Akhtar Shahzad (25 off 16). Ghulam Murtaza departed soon after and the inning lost its way.
The partnership between Ali Abid (27 off 17) and Tosif (35 off 21) was only good enough for AL-Fahim to reduce the margin of defeat. They added 63 but unfortunately, the mini-collapse in the middle of the inning meant they were chasing more than 100 in the last six overs. Mohammad Irfan and Abdullah Abbasi shared two wickets each for the Hunterz, Bilal remained the most economical.
Mohammad Rizwan was awarded man of the match for his spectacular inning with the bat as Hunterz made their way to the final with the same ease. The second semifinal of the tournament will be played between Marsons United and Independent Cricket Club on the 13th of November.
