- Gujranwala defeats Rawalpindi for the first time to remain in the competition.
- Giants held the Raiders to 128 runs before successfully chasing the goal in 18.1 overs.
- Azan Awais, was ruled out by a call of lbw.
Gujranwala Giants maintained their prospects of grabbing a playoff position by claiming their first victory in the Pakistan Junior League (PJL) against Rawalpindi Raiders on Friday.
Choosing to bowl first, the Giants held the Raiders to 128 runs before successfully chasing the goal in 18.1 overs, helped by a stellar bowling and batting effort.
Shevon Daniel and skipper Uzair Mumtaz led the Giants’ batting effort as they chased down 129 runs after opener Hamza Nawaz was run out on the first ball of the innings, which left them in a precarious situation early on. The third batter, Azan Awais, was ruled out by a call of lbw. The giants were struggling at eight for two in 2.1 overs due to the early shocks.
Daniels, a gifted Sri Lankan batsman who had scored 81 runs in the Giants’ last-over defeat by the Bahawalpur Royals, joined Uzair. The two immediately repaired the damage by adopting a cautious stance as the asking rate rose.
The Giants took back control of their low chase thanks in part to some great shots from Daniels. Daniels needed 40 balls to get his second fifty of the competition. When Uzair reached 47 (in the 14th over), he was dropped in the deep. Daniels then left the game in the following over after being caught at long-off by Afnan.
In 41 balls, the left-hander scored 50 points (three fours, two sixes). Together, Uzair and Daniels contributed 98 runs for the third wicket. Uzair needed 36 balls to reach his second 50 of the competition. Ali Raza then took two wickets off Giants in the space of three balls as Mohammad Waqas and Hasnain Majid died trying pointless big shots. When Matthew Tromp tried to make a second run, he was run out, causing more concern in the Giants’ bench. The Giants needed 11 out of 19 balls when he departed the game.
To calm the tension in the Giants dugout, Tom Aspinwall ended the game alongside his captain. Uzair finished the chase with 11 unused balls and was still unbeaten at 56 off 42 balls (three fours, two sixes). For the Raiders, Ali Raza took two wickets.
The Giants had earlier requested that the Raiders bat first. Hassan Eisakhil, the opener, was dismissed for 22 in the fifth over after scoring 34 runs. Hassan was followed to the dugout by Aseer Mughal (9) with the score at 46 in the seventh over.
The team’s captain, Habibullah, took the initiative and batted steadily for 50 consecutive runs. The right-55 hander’s off 53 balls included some creative strokes (five fours, two sixes).
Ali Ishaq scored 26 (24 balls) and was the fourth batter out as Habibullah and Ali added 65 runs for the third wicket. Afnan Khan was caught in the deep by Matthew Tromp after Charlie Tear (#0) was run out on the first ball he faced, further complicating matters for the Raiders.
In the same over where Zia also failed to clear the ropes, Tromp made another progress. At 123 for seven in the 19th over, Raiders were in trouble after Ziaullah’s dismissal. When Tromp clean bowled Amir Hassan, he gave his team their third wicket of the over. Tromp finished with outstanding statistics of 4-0-19-3, conceding just five runs.
Kai Smith and Ali Raza were both out for ducks by pacer Mohammad Ibtisam, who also closed the innings with impressive figures of 3.3-0-23-3. Taking two wickets for 23 runs, Ali Asfand.
Raiders saw a significant collapse as they lost their final eight wickets for an additional 17 runs, going from 111 for two to 128 all out in the span of 19 deliveries.
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