Babar Azam smashed his 30th List-A century, becoming the first Pakistan batter to register 30 or more List-A centuries, as Allied Bank Stallions triumphed over Engro Dolphins by 174 runs here at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad on Thursday evening.
For the second consecutive game Dolphins failed to chase a total as they followed their yesterday’s score of 192 all out by 97 all out in pursuit of the 272-run target.
Stallions made it two out of three wins as they qualified for the playoff stage, along with UMT Markhors and Lake City Panthers, while the Dolphins faced their third consecutive defeat. Lions and Dolphins are fighting for the fourth place in the playoff stage and will face each other on 22 September.
Babar hit an unbeaten 104 off 100 balls clubbing seven fours and three sixes including a boundary on penultimate ball of the innings to bring up his record century. Yasir Khan (46, 58b, 5x4s), Shan Masood (34, 36b, 3x4s) and Tayyab Tahir (33, 49b, 4x4s) were the other notable contributors. In turn, Mehran Mumtaz (3-14) and Jahandad Khan (3-18) picked up three wickets each as Dolphins fell for a paltry 97 in just 25 overs.
After Stallions won the toss and elected to bat first, Shan and Yasir provided a solid opening partnership of 76 runs before falling in 13th and 17th overs, respectively. Babar and Tayyab stitched a 57-run third-wicket partnership before the latter fell in the 30th over.
Husaain Talat chipped in with 23 off 25 balls with the help of two fours while also adding 46 with Babar for the fifth wicket. The eighth-wicket partnership between Babar and Haris Rauf stretched for 41 runs in 23 balls with the latter only contributing three runs. All six Dolphins bowlers picked up one wicket each.
Jahandad’s three-wicket burst with the new ball left Dolphins at 40-3 before the other bowlers struck at regular intervals as they lost remaining seven wickets for just 57 runs. Abrar Ahmed dismissed the top scorers for Dolphins, Sahibzada Farhan (32, 36b, 6x4s) and Asif Ali (21, 28b, 3x4s). Haris Rauf bagged two wickets as well.
Scores in brief
Match 7 – Allied Bank Stallions beat Engro Dolphins by 174 runs
Allied Bank Stallions 271-7, 50 overs (Babar Azam 104 not out, Yasir Khan 46, Shan Masood 34, Tayyab Tahir 33; Saud Shakeel 1-14, Qasim Akram 1-42, Faheem Ashraf 1-48)
Engro Dolphins 97 all out, 25 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 32, Asif Ali 21; Mehran Mumtaz 3-14, Jahandad Khan 3-18, Abrar Ahmed 2-15, Haris Rauf 2-28)
Player of the match: Babar Azam (Allied Bank Stallions)
Tomorrow’s fixture: Nurpur Lions vs UMT Markhors, Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad at 3pm (local time)