Champions One-Day Cup playoff stage to begin tomorrow

The playoff stage of the Bahria Town Champions One-Day Cup, involving the Qualifier, Eliminator 1 & 2 and the final, will begin tomorrow with the UMT Markhors taking on the Lake City Panthers in the Qualifier. In the league round match between the Markhors and Panthers, the former won by a whopping margin of 160 runs in the tournament opener.

The winner of the Qualifier will secure a spot in the final while the losing team will take on the winner of Wednesday’s eliminator on 27 September in eliminator 2.

Eliminator 1, to be played on Wednesday 25 September, will be contested between Allied Bank Stallions and Nurpur Lions. The four teams, Markhors, Panthers, Stallions and Lions, finished first, second, third and fourth on the points table, respectively after the 10-match single league round from 12 to 22 September at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad. Engro Dolphins, finished at the fifth and last position, after managing to win only one match out of four outings in the tournament.

Markhors and Panthers won three out of four league round matches each. The Stallions won two and lost two while the Lions lost three of their league round games and came out triumphant in one.

Among the top performers with the bat, Markhors’ Kamran Ghulam leads the charts with 247 runs in four matches at an average of 61.75 with the help of two centuries. Stallions’ Babar Azam and Tayyab Tahir occupy the second and third positions with 230 (76.67 average) and 221 (55.25 average) runs, respectively with one century each to their name.

On the bowling front, Panthers’ pacer Mohammad Hasnain has bagged 11 wickets including career best List-A figures of 5-74 while Stallions’ Jahandad Khan is the second leading wicket-taker with 10 scalps to his name. Zahid Mehmood (Markhors) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (Lions) are joint-third leading wicket takers with nine each.

UMT Markhors Captain, Mohammad Rizwan, said: “We had an exciting run in the league round of the Bahria Town matches apart from the one hiccup and we look forward to carrying the winning momentum with the help of Almighty. The Qualifier against Lake City Panthers is going to be highly challenging and I’m sure the fans will witness a good contest.”

Lake City Panthers Captain, Shadab Khan, said: “After losing the first match we got back to winning ways which is due to some of our batters and bowlers getting back to their form. The batters and bowlers are eager to prove their mettle in the all-important Qualifier against the strong Markhors outfit and we look forward to putting our best foot forward.”

Allied Bank Stallions Captain, Mohammad Hari, said: “The league round of the Bahria Town Champions One-Day Cup has been a very competitive and the Stallions are now up for the challenge that lies ahead. Our game against the Lions is going to be a do or die affair and we will strive to showcase the best of our abilities.”

Nurpur Lions Captain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, said: “Our team has been tested throughout the league round and now the eliminator is the best opportunity to put that valuable experience to use.  We are aware of the strength of the Stallions and will look to give our best in the knock-out game on Wednesday. Hopefully, the Faisalabad crowd will turn up in big numbers as usual.”

Playoff stage schedule:

24 September - Qualifier: UMT Markhors vs Lake City Panthers, Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad at 3pm (local time)

25 September - Eliminator 1: Allied Bank Stallions vs Nurpur Lions, Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad at 3pm (local time)

27 September – Eliminator 2: Loser of Qualifier vs Winner of Eliminator 1, Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad at 3pm (local time)

29 September – Final: Winner of Qualifier vs Winner of Eliminator 2, Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad at 3pm (local time)