Sindh beat Northern by 25 runs

Azam Khan's career-best 88 off 43 balls, with eight sixes and five fours in it, headlined Sindh's dominant show against Northern, which ended with a 25-run loss for the National T20 Cup table-toppers. Northern had already qualified for the semi-finals, and the win helped Sindh join them in the final four, where Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have also cemented their place.

After Northern opted to bowl, Mohammad Amir sent back Khurram Manzoor quickly, but they were then punished, especially by Azam and Sarfaraz Ahmed. Sharjeel Khan (21 in 20) and Saud Shakeel (25 in 18) helped Sindh reach 51 for 1 in the powerplay, and though Northern pulled back with the wickets of both the set batsmen soon after that, some brutal hitting from Azam and Ahmed changed the flow of the game.

Ahmed was as effective as his younger colleague. If Azam scored at a strike rate of 204.65, Ahmed hit an unbeaten 52 in 28 balls, scoring at 185.71. The two added 130 runs in 91.2 overs before Amir sent Azam back, ending with 2 for 42. Ahmed, though, continued and helped Sindh put up a formidable 221 for 4.

Northern launched a powerful response as openers Umar Amin (52 in 42) and Zeeshan Malik (61 in 35) put on a 116-run stand. The tide turned when Anwar Ali, returning for his final over, dismissed both the batsmen off successive balls. Asif Ali, batting at No. 4, denied Anwar his hat-trick, but ran himself out off the next ball for Sindh to get their three-in-three. From 116 for no loss, Northern were 117 for 3.

Shadab Khan (26 in 16) and Haider Ali (27 in 13) tried their best, but the asking rate was too high for them to catch up.

Report of the second game, between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Central Punjab, will follow