Veteran’s 85* singlehandedly took Central Punjab to 168 before Sindh collapsed to fall behind on DLS
Central Punjab 168 for 8 (Malik 85*, Shehzad 35, Raees 4-33, Abrar 3-39) beat Sindh 110 for 6 (Sharjeel 36, Qasim 3-20, Gul 2-15) by 12 runs (DLS method)
Shoaib Malik singlehandedly carried Central Punjab through the second half of their innings as they defeated Sindh by 12 runs via the DLS method to move into third place. Central Punjab elected to bat and lost Babar Azam and Muhammad Akhlaq inside five overs. Malik joined Ahmed Shehzad at that point and the pair added 42 for the third wicket before Shehzad fell in the 11th over to leave them 71 for 3. From that point onwards, only one Central Punjab batter got into double-figures – Hasan Ali who made 12 off four balls. Abrar Ahmed and Rumman Raees took seven wickets between themselves to peg Central Punjab back. But despite the bowling dominance at the other end, Malik managed to not only bat through to the end of the innings, but helped add 98 from the point of Shehzad’s wicket, eventually finishing unbeaten on 85 off just 47 balls as they posted 168 for 8. He hit eight fours and five sixes in his knock.
Sindh began their chase with speed, openers Khurram Mansoor and Sharjeel Khan adding 48 in 4.4 overs before the former fell to Sameen Gul. Shan Masood kept the pace up as well, getting Sindh to 76 for 2 when he fell in the eight over. But from there, Sindh collapsed against the offspin of 18-year-old Qasim Akram to fall to 110 for 6. Those wickets eventually came back to haunt them as the match had to be decided by the DLS method.