Rameez, Hasan steer Karachi to thrilling win over Abbottabad

KARACHI: Opener Rameez Aziz and veteran batsman Hasan Raza guided Karachi Zebras for a six-wicket thrilling victory over Abbottabad Falcons on the final ball of the match on third day of the Faysal Bank National Twenty20 Cup here at the National Stadium on Tuesday.

Needing ten runs in the final over, both batsmen took 11 runs as Rameez smashed the winning boundary off the last delivery from Junaid Khan.

Rameez was joined by Hasan when the Zebras were reeling at 28-4 and from there both took the score to complete the chase, adding 132 runs for an unbeaten fifth wicket partnership.

Hasan Raza made 74 and Rameez scored 67 and both remained not out.

Earlier, Abbottabad Falcons made 158 runs for seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs after captain Younis Khan won the toss and decided to bat first.

Openers Yasir Hameed and Fawad Khan provided a solid start of 50 runs and then Younis along with Yasir, added 70 runs for the second wicket before the collapse began and the Falcons lost five wickets for 38 runs.

Yasir, their most in-form batsman, was again the top scorer with 73 runs scored from 51 balls with the help of nine fours while Younis made 42 off 32 balls with four boundaries.

For Karachi Zebras, captain Danis Kaneria grabbed three wickets for 30 and Atif Maqbool claimed two for 31.