Babar, Jahandad help Stallions secure 174-run mammoth win against Dolphins

Babar Azam's stellar century and fiery bowling help the Stallions secure 174-run victory against the Dolphins in the seventh game of the Champions One-Day Cup at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad on Wednesday. 

Chasing the 272-run target set by the Stallions, the Saud Shakeel-led team bundled out for 97 with left-arm pacer Jahandad Khan and spinner Mehran Mumtaz grabbing three wickets each. 

Starting their innings, the Dolphins met with a disastrous start as Muhammad Huraira was dismissed by Jahandad on a duck on the second ball of the innings. 

The left-arm pacer later dismissed Umar Amin (10) and Saud (12), further turning the game in the Stallions' favour.

Wickets kept falling on the Saud Shakeel-led side as Sarfaraz Ahmed — who is also the mentor of Dolphins — and Qasim Akram returned to the dugout after adding five and four runs to the scoreboard, respectively.

Sahibzada Farhan — who opened the innings — tried to fought back but failed and returned to the pavilion after scoring 32 off 36 with six fours, leaving the Dolphins 74/6 and in grave conditions.

After Farhan's dismissal, the team had tail-enders on the ready, one of which was Asif Ali, known for his power hitting abilities, who managed to score a slow 21 off 28 balls and fell to spin sensation, Abrar Ahmed.

No hopes remained for the Dolphins and they were bundled out a few overs later for 97 runs.

This the Dolphins third consecutive loss in the tournament as they have failed to secure a win in the Champions One-Day Cup, losing their first game to the Panthers and their second to the Markhors.

Earlier, the Stallions had won the toss and elected to bat first and with the help of Babar, they had scored 271/7.

The star batter remained steady throughout the innings as he scored 104 runs off 100 balls with his compatriots kept falling one by one.

Despite not losing wickets early on in the innings, the Stallions played steadily throughout with Shan Masood (34 off 36) departing first for 76 runs in the 13th over.

After Masood's dismissal, Babar walked onto the pitch and batted with Yasir Khan.

The duo kept the innings going until the 16.1 over when Saud Shakeel got Yasir (46 off 58) out and he was replaced by Tayyab Tahir who also could not do much as he got out after scoring 33 off 49.

The disappointment continued for the Mohammad Haris-led team as the skipper could score only six runs after facing 15 balls, leaving the Stallions toppling at 162/4 in the 33.5 over.

Haris was replaced by Hussain Talat who is capable of scoring runs down the order, he added 23 runs while batting with Babar who had crossed the fifty-run mark at this point.

Tail-enders Jahandad and Mehran Mumtaz could only add eight and three runs to the scorecard respectively.

Mir Hamza, Faheem Ashraf, Qasim Akram, Sufiyan Muqeem and Saud managed to grab one wicket each while Abbas Afridi remained wicket-less.

Playing XI

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

Dolphins: Sahibzada Farhan, Mohammad Huraira, Umar Amin, Saud Shakeel (captain), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Qasim Akram, Faheem Ashraf, Asif Ali, Abbas Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem and Mir Hamza.