Champions One-Day Cup: Panthers beat Lions by 84 runs with Shadab's heroics

Panthers secured a victory against Lions by 84 runs in the fifth match of the Champions One-Day Cup at Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

While defending 283, Shadab Khan's men bowled out Panthers for 199.

Shadab and Usama Mir's leg-spin duo picked three wickets each to set up Panthers' second win of the tournament.

The innings began with Sajjad Ali being dismissed for a duck by Mohammad Hasnain in the fourth ball of the chase. Abdullah Shafique followed shortly, falling lbw to Amad Butt for just 1 run from 5 balls, leaving the team at 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 quickfire 20 runs from 17 balls, with 1 four and 2 sixes, but was run out by Mohammad Hasnain, adding to the pressure on the batting side.

Irfan Khan struggled, scoring 35 runs from 50 balls with 2 boundaries, before being stumped by Usman Khan off the bowling of Usama 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 from 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 from 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, Panthers won the toss and batted first. Saim Ayub and Azan Awais opening the batting. However, the start was shaky as Azan early, caught by Irfan Khan off Sirajuddin for just 1 run.

Saim followed shortly 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, as he was caught by Sajjad Ali off Shaheen Afridi.

Usman Khan tried to inject some momentum into the innings with a 11 runs off just 7 balls, hitting two boundaries before being caught by Omair Yousuf off Sirajuddin. This left the team reeling at 31-3 by the 4th over.

The rescue operation began with Mubasir Khan and Haider Ali, who formed a crucial 144-run partnership.

Mubasir played a steady yet aggressive knock, scoring 90 runs off 97 balls, which included 10 boundaries and 3 sixes. He was finally dismissed, caught by Sirajuddin off Yamin, just 10 runs short of a well-deserved century.

Haider Ali complemented Mubasir’s innings with a solid 84 off 99 balls, hitting 5 fours and 3 sixes before being caught by Omair Yousuf off Ahmed Daniyal.

Skipper Shadab provided a quickfire contribution, smashing 37 runs off 29 balls with a strike rate of 127.58 before being trapped leg before wicket by Ahmed Daniyal.

Amad Butt and Arafat Minhas failed to make an impact, 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.