The Panthers secured victory against the Lions by 84 runs in the fifth match of the Champions One-Day Cup at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. While defending 283, Shadab Khan’s men bowled out the Panthers for 199. Shadab and Usama Mir’s leg-spin duo picked three wickets each to give the Panthers their second win of the tournament. The innings began with Sajjad Ali being dismissed for a duck by Mohammad Hasnain on the fourth ball of the chase. Abdullah Shafique followed shortly, falling lbw to Amad Butt for just 1 run off 5 balls, leaving the team a precarious 8 runs for 2 wickets. Imam-ul-Haq anchored the innings with a valuable 60 runs off 62 balls, including 5 boundaries and 2 sixes, before being dismissed by Shadab Khan. Omair Yousuf added a quick 20 runs from 17 balls, with 1 four and 2 sixes, but Mohammad Hasnain ran out to add pressure to the bat. Irfan Khan fought on, scoring 35 runs off 50 balls with 2 boundaries before Usman Khan dropped him off the bowling of Usam Mir. Khushdil Shah contributed 22 runs from 32 balls, hitting 1 four and 2 sixes, but was dismissed by Amad Butt. Aamer Yamin scored a brisk 10 runs off 8 balls, hitting 2 boundaries before being dismissed lbw by Shadab Khan. Shaheen Shah Afridi, the captain, failed to score and was bowled by Usama Mir. Ahmed Daniyal managed 16 runs off 14 balls, including 2 boundaries, before being dismissed by Saim Ayub. Sirajuddin added a quick 19 runs from 13 balls, hitting 2 sixes before falling to Mohammad Hasnain. Earlier, the Panthers won the toss and batted first. Saim Ayub and Azan Awais open the batting. It was a shaky start though as Azan early caught Irfan Khan off Sirajuddin for just 1 run. Saim followed soon after, caught by wicketkeeper Sajjad Ali off Aamer Yamin for 10 runs off 20 balls. Umar Siddiq’s brief stay at the crease ended with him scoring a duck when he was caught by Sajjad Ali off Shaheen Afridi. Usman Khan tried to bring some momentum to the innings with 11 runs off just 7 balls, hitting two boundaries before being caught by Sirajuddin’s Omair Yousuf. The team was reeling at 31-3 after the fourth game. The rescue operation began with Mubasir Khan and Haider Ali putting on a crucial partnership of 144 runs. Mubasir played a steady but aggressive knock, scoring 90 runs off 97 balls, including 10 boundaries and 3 sixes. He was eventually dismissed, caught by Sirajuddin off Yamin, just 10 runs short of a deserved century. Haider Ali finished Mubasir’s innings with a solid 84 off 99 balls, hitting 5 fours and 3 sixes before being caught by Ahmed Daniyal’s Omair Yousuf. Skipper Shadab was quick to contribute as he smashed 37 runs off 29 balls at 127.58 before Ahmed Daniyal was caught leg in front of the wicket. Amad Butt and Arafat Minhas failed to make their mark, scoring 1 and 9 runs respectively as Shaheen Shah Afridi cleaned up the lower order. Usama Mir managed a brief cameo of 5 runs but he too was dismissed soon after. Despite a flurry of wickets in the latter overs, the team posted a competitive total of 283 runs. Shaheen and Daniyal picked three wickets each while Sirajuddin and Yamin took two each.
