AISALABAD: Rawalpindi Rams scored a seven-wicket victory over Multan Tigers in the final league Group B match of the National Twenty20 Cup at Iqbal Stadium here on Tuesday night. Left-arm spinner Raza Hasan ran through the Tigers middle order to set up the win. Batting first, Tigers began what was virtually a quarterfinal match steadily, if not spectacularly, reaching 51 for 0 in the seventh over. It was mostly downhill for Tigers after that. First they lost both openers in the space of five deliveries as they slid to 54 for 3. Naved Yasin and Zeeshan Ashraf crafted a patient recovery before another collapse. This time the damage was 7 for 26 as Raza struck four times. In reply, Rams, who needed only 129 to make the semi-finals, had a bit of a stutter as their openers departed after a bright start. It was easy for Rams after that, losing only one more wicket before Jamal Anwar and Sohail Tanvir put on 73 to confirm Tigers exit.Brief scores:
Multan Tigers 129 in 19.5 overs: (Yasir Arafat 27, 22 balls, 3×4, 1×6, Naveed Yasin 22, 25 balls, 1×4, 1×6, Zeeshan Ashraf 22, 21 balls, 1×4, 1×6, Zain Abbas 21, 21 balls, 1×4, 1×6, Raza Hasan 4-21, Sohail Tanveer 2-21, Hammad Azam 2-25) vs Rawalpindi Rams 134-3 in 14.3 overs (Jamal Anwar 39*, 29 balls, 5×4, 1×6, Sohail Tanveer 39, 25 balls, 5×4, 2×6, Awais Zia 18, 16 balls 3×4, 1×6 Zulifqar Babar 1-23, Abdul Rauf 1-31)
Toss: Multan Tigers & decided to bat
Result: Rawalpindi Rams won by 7 wickets
Man of the match: Raza Hasan (Rawalpindi Rams)
Umpires: Riazuddin and Nadeem Ghauri
TV umpires: Saleem Badar
Match referee: Mohammad Anees
Scorer: Tahir Sohaib. – Dailytimes
