FAISALABAD: Lahore Lions put themselves in prime position for a semi-final spot after beating Islamabad Leopards by 43 runs comfortably at the Iqbal Stadium here on Monday night. Chasing winning target of 149, Leopards suffered two collapses, first losing four wickets for 9 runs and then four for 11. They were all bundled out for 105 in 18.5 overs. Shan Masood’s 32 was the only significant contribution.Seamers Emmad Ali and Imran Ali did the early damage for Lahore, taking two and three wickets each, and then spinners Saad Nasim and Adnan Rasool finished the job. Earlier, Lahore had lost five wickets for five runs in their innings. But a 37-ball 44 from Kamran Akmal helped them kept scoring at a brisk rate. At 99 for 3 in the 13th over, they looked set for a big score, but a collapse meant they needed No. 9 Imran Ali’s 27 off 19 balls to get to 148.
Brief scores:
Lahore Loins 148-9 in 20 overs: (Kamran Akmal 44, 37 balls, 7×4, Imran Ali 27*, 19 balls, 3×4, 1×6, Umer Akmal 20, 17 balls, 3×4, Nasrullah 3-25, Rao Iftikhar-2-32) vs Islamabad Leopards 105 in 18.5 overs: (Shan Masood 32, 34 ball, 2×4, 2×6, Naeem Anjum 14, 14 ball, 1×4, Imran Ali 3-10, Saad Nasim 2-25, Adnan Rasool 2-27)
Toss: Lahore Loins & decided to bat
Result: Lahore Loins won by 43 runs
Man of the match: Imran Ali (Lahore Loins)
Umpires: Shakeel Khan & Islam Khan
TV umpires: Riazuddin
Match referee: Khalid Niazi
Scorer: Tahir Sohaib – Dailytimes