Sami’s hat-trick pushes Karachi Whites closer to National T20 semis

KARACHI: Test pacer Mohammad Sami pulled off a hat-trick in a five-wicket haul to put Karachi Whites on the threshold of semi-finals when they overwhelmed Lahore Blues by 38 runs in the National T20 Cup at Multan Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.It was their fourth successive win. The 37-year-old Sami got rid of Mohammad Irfan (9), Farhan Khan (0) and Aizaz Cheema (0) off three successive deliveries in the penultimate over and finished with 5-14 in 3.4 overs to dismiss Lahore Blues for 141 in 18.4 overs while chasing 180.Sami has to his credit one hat-trick in Test cricket, against Sri Lanka, and one in ODIs, against West Indies. Sami became the eighth bowler to claim a hat-trick in the national T20 event.Before him, Zeeshan Khan, Sohail Ahmed, Aslam Qureshi, Jannisar Khan, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Rameez and Imran Khan Junior had claimed hat-tricks.Awais Zia (68) and Shoaib Malik (48) guided Karachi Whites to 179-6, the highest total of the event so far.Karachi Whites moved to eight points from five outings. This was the third loss for Lahore Blues in five matches. Lahore Blues kept losing wickets at regular intervals right from the start. Opener Rizwan Hussain was the only bright spark for Lahore Blues as the hard-hitting opener kept the match alive till he was bowled by Sami in the 13th over.Rizwan, who belongs to Toba Tek Singh, struck four fours and one six in his 40-ball 45.Skipper Saad Nasim made 17-ball 23 with one six and one four. Opener Nauman Anwar, who threw his wicket with a rash stroke off the bowling of spinner Raza Hasan, smashed 11-ball 16 with one six and one four. Lahore Blues lost their last four wickets for just 11 runs.International pacer Rahat Ali captured 3-44 in four overs.After losing Khurram Manzoor (18) and Rameez Raja Junior (1), Awais Zia and Shoaib Malik shared 80 runs for the third wicket to enable their side to post an imposing total.Awais hammered seven fours and three sixes in his swashbuckling 43-ball 68. Malik, who was bowled by Hussain Talat, clobbered two sixes and as many fours in his fiery 37-ball 48. Danish Aziz, who was included in the team in place of Fawad Alam, struck 14-ball 19 not out with three hits to the fence.Mohammad Irfan (2-31 in 4 overs) and Hussain Talat (2-31 in 4 overs) were the successful bowlers.Sami was declared the Man of the Match.Earlier in the day, Multan romped to their third win when they defeated Lahore Whites by seven wickets. With six points they sit at the second spot. This was the third straight loss for Lahore Whites in five outings. They won their first two matches convincingly.Mohammad Hafeez scored unbeaten 46 off 38 balls to enable Multan to achieve the 110-run target with 16 balls to spare.After the fall of Zeeshan Malik (9), Hafeez added 44 runs for the second wicket with opener Hasan Raza, who hammered 34-ball 33 with five fours. Hafeez struck two sixes and five fours.Skipper Sohaib Maqsood played against his nature, scoring only 16 off 22 balls with two fours. Zafar Gohar, Amad Butt and Umaid Asif took one wicket each.After deciding to bat first, Lahore Whites put up a pathetic batting display and were restricted to 109-7 in 20 overs. Ali Khan was the only batsman who batted with attacking instinct, smashing 36-ball 43 not out with one six and one four. Saif Badar scored 20 off 27 balls with one four. Skipper Salman Butt made 19 off 28 balls with one four.Leg-spinner Irfan Khan got 2-17 in four overs. He clean bowled Salman Butt off his first ball, which came in sharply and crashed the stumps. Hafeez, who also took 1-18 in four overs, was adjudged the Man of the Match. Today’s fixtures: FATA vs Islamabad (11am), Rawalpindi vs Peshawar (3pm).

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