Stallions thrash Lions to register 133-run victory at Champions One-Day Cup

The Lions faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of Stallions who bowled them out for just 202 in the second game of the Champions One-Day Cup at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad today (Friday). 

Haris and Co registered a 133-run win in the one-sided clash while destroying the entire batting line-up of Shaheen Shah Afridi's team in the 40th over. during their chase of 337-run total. 

The Stallions had posted a total of  and the Lions were bundled out on 203 runs in the 40th over. 

Their first batter fell when they had just one run at the scoreboard as Sajjad Ali got out on a duck after facing four deliveries by Mohammad Ali. 

The next two wickets of the Lions just toppled down back-to-back as Abdullah Shafique returned to the dugout in the fifth over after scoring nine runs off 14 balls and Omair Yusuf got out on a two on four deliveries in the sixth over.

The Lions were 22-3 when Imam-ul-Haq, who had opened the innings with Sajjad, formed a commendable partnership with Sharoon Siraj batting steadily for the course of the next few overs and formed a partnership of 50 runs, before the latter fell to Jahandad.

Siraj scored 28 off 38 deliveries with four boundaries and one six, leaving the Lions at 72-4.

He was replaced by Khushdil Shah who came in at number six and joined Imam. He also couldn’t score much and was dismissed by pacer Haris Rauf after scoring 19 runs.

In his place, Aamer Yamin came to bat and could only score 22 runs off 21 balls with one four and one six, he too was struck down by Mehran Mumtaz in the 30.2 over.

In the next over, Aamer Jamal returned without scoring, becoming the second duck of the Lions’ innings.

As the wickets of the Lions were tumbling, Imam stood strong and was joined by his captain, Shaheen, at 153-7.

Sadly for the Lions, their stable batter, Imam also got out after scoring 78 off 83 balls with six fours and one six.

Lions' skipper also returned to the pavilion after scoring 22 off 21, ending all hopes of a respectable loss for the team as they now stood 193-9 with Shaheen's dismissal. The team was soon bundled out on 203 as Sirajuddin was dismissed by Rauf after scoring just 10 runs.

Earlier the Stallions had opted to bat first and posted a 337-run total against the Lions.

Left-handed batter Shan Masood and right-handed batter Yasir Khan opened the innings for the Stallions but were dismissed early in the game.

Yasir fell first to Aamer after scoring just 13 off 18 deliveries in the 7.3 over and his partner, Shan could not convert his 41 off 53 balls into a big score and was dismissed by Faisal Akram.

The Stallions had experienced batters in their line-up including Pakistan's white-ball cricket team captain, Babar Azam who arrived at the pitch after the dismissal of Yasir.

Babar, along with Tayyab Tahir steered the innings in the favour of the Stallions as the two batters constructed a partnership of 114 runs.

The duo batted carefully and struck the ball whenever possible, cementing their place on the pitch and becoming a strong pair of batters.

Individually, Babar crossed the fifty-run mark scoring 76 runs off 79 balls with nine fours before being sent to the dugout by fellow Pakistan cricket team member, Shaheen Shah Afridi, who is also the captain of the Lions.

Tayyab continued striking the ball and remained on the pitch till the Stallions crossed the 200-run mark.

Unfortunately for the Stallions, he could not continue his game-saving heroics and was dismissed by Aamer on the first ball of the 39th over. Adding 74 runs on the scorecard with seven fours and two sixes, Tayyab left his skipper Mohammad Haris to bat with Hussain Talat.

However, the captain stood strong during the final overs of the Stallions' innings and scored a fiery and crucial 55 off 36 balls with four boundaries and four maximums, helping his team to cross the 300-run mark. He was dismissed by the opposing team's skipper, Shaheen.

Hussain Talat and Jahandad Khan wrapped up the innings with 50 off 33 balls and 20 off 11 balls respectively as the Stallions concluded the innings on 336 runs.

Shaheen and Aamer picked up two wickets each whereas Faisal grabbed one wicket.

Playing XI:

Lions: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Taha, Omair Yousuf, Sharoon Siraj, Irfan Khan, Khushdil Shah, Rohail Nazir, Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Sajjad Ali, and Aamer Jamal

Stallions: Shan Masood, Yasir Khan, Babar Azam, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris, Hussain Talat, Jahandad Khan, Mehran Mumtaz, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, and Mohammad Ali.