Clinical Northern rout Balochistan to complete grand double.

KARACHI -- Northern put up a brilliant teamwork to become the inaugural champions of the Audionic presents Zong 4G National T20 Cup on Thursday after decimating Balochistan by 52 runs in a lopsided final at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

The new-look tournament, featuring the six regional outfits, was fittingly won by the best side as the Imad Wasim-led Northern - who had topped the league phase with four victories - completed a grand double a few hours after their second strings team had defeated Southern Punjab in the Second XI title-decider in Karachi.

Going by the trend so often observed during the competition, Balochistan skipper Haris Sohail preferred to chase rather than set a target for Northern, taking into account the dew factor once the lights are switched on. But Haris was certainly left to rue his decision as the pitch became difficult for his batsmen in the second half of the evening.

Taking advantage of fine batting conditions early on, Umar Amin and Ali Imran built a good foundation before Ali (16 off 15 balls) was dismissed by leg-spinner Yasir Shah with the score on 46 in the last over of the Powerplay.

Umar, however, continued his excellent form after having got starts in all previous games in the event barring the last league fixture against Balochistan on Tuesday when he fell without scoring.

The long-discarded Pakistan left-hander struck some elegant strokes in what was an splendid innings in the given circumstances. Shortly after bringing up his 19th 50-plus in T20 cricket, Umar, who was the deserving recipient of the man-of-the-match award, was caught by Imran Farhat off Hussain Talat for 60 with the team score being 95 - midway through the 12th over - after he and Sohail Akhtar (14) had put on 49.

Umar's 45-ball knock - by far the most significant individual score of the entire final - was embedded with six fours and three sixes. After his departure, Balochistan bounced back to claim four wickets in quick successions during a period where Northern mustered mere 14 runs. Among the victims were Asif Ali (10) and Imad for a first-ball duck.

Northern then made a grand comeback thanks to the combined efforts of all-rounders Mohammad Nawaz (31 off 25 balls, two sixes and one four) and Shadab Khan (25 off 15, two boundaries) as the pair stitched together an unfinished partnership of 58 in 35 balls that their team to a highly-competitive tally of 167-5.

Amad and Hussain were pick of the Balochistan bowling with two...

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