KP oust Central Punjab to complete semis line-up.

Byline: Khalid H. Khan

KARACHI -- Khushdil Shah celebrated his inclusion in the Australia-bound Pakistan T20 squad with a match-winning knock as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sealed the remaining semi-final berth in the National T20 Cup by handing Central Punjab a seven-wicket defeat in Faisalabad on Tuesday.

After a century partnership between skipper Babar Azam and Umar Akmal guided Central Punjab to 177-3 in the penultimate First XI league-round fixture at the Iqbal Stadium, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reached 182-3 with two balls to spare as Khushdil shared an unbroken stand of 72 in 42 deliveries with Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman.

Khushdil, the left-hander from Bannu, vanquished Central Punjab's hopes of qualifying for the knockout stage in style when he hoisted seamer Faheem Ashraf for successive sixes after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa started the match in last spot. They eventually secured just their second success that pushed them to fourth place on superior net run-rate to that already-eliminated Sindh, while Central Punjab were relegated to the bottom in the six-team standings.

Khushdil, who was declared man-of-the-match, blasted 46 from only 26 deliveries with the aid of three sixes and three fours. Fakhar finished with a 54-ball 82, featuring seven boundaries and a brace of sixes, after having earlier shared partnerships of 45 with fellow opener Sahibzada Farhan (17) and 62 with Iftikhar Ahmed (19).

Put into bat by Mohammad Rizwan, Central Punjab cashed in on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's sloppy work in the field as Babar and Umar both escaped being run out while several other opportunities were also missed. It was an irony a run out eventually broke the third-wicket stand of 111 from 68 balls when Babar failed to make his ground after being sent back by his partner.

Until that moment Central Punjab were seemingly heading for a 200-plus total with Babar, who scored 83 off 56 balls (five fours and four sixes), looking in great touch while eyeing his second century of the competition.

Umar remained unbeaten with a rapid 37-ball 53 which included four sixes and two fours.

With both Northern and Balochistan already through to the semi-finals, the top-of-the-table clash in the evening match decided their final standings. Northern won that battle quite easily as Islamabad-born youngsters Ali Imran and Rohail Nazir both notched up their maiden half-centuries in the shortest format to inspire their side home by seven wickets in 17 overs.

The 21-year-old Ali, playing...