SP, CP remain in hunt for Pakistan Cup semis despite losing.

KARACHI -- Sindh were guaranteed No.1 slot in the Pakistan Cup after a high-scoring successful chase against Southern Punjab, who despite losing are still in the hunt for the semi-finals along with Northern.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, meanwhile, booked their last-four spot after completing a fifth triumph against Central Punjab, who also are in with a chance of qualifying for the knockout round, provided the defeat the high-flying Sindh in Tuesday's last round of preliminary fixtures.

Northern finally brought an end to a five-match losing streak - after starting the competition with three straight victories - with a crucial turnaround against the eliminated Balochistan at the NBP Sports Complex.

Balochistan, put in, posted 249-6 on the back of a 136-run partnership for the sixth wicket involving Akbar-ur-Rehman (75 off 89 balls, four boundaries) and Ayaz Tasawwar (unbeaten 82 off 68, six fours and two sixes).

Northern managed to get the over the line with20 deliveries to spare with youngsters Haider Ali (53) and man-of-the-match Rohail Nazir (undefeated 69) starring for them.

The avalanche of runs continued on the SBP Sports Complex featherbed as Sindh and Southern Punjab combined to pile up a grand total of 797 runs in 96.5 overs. After losing the toss, Southern Punjab hit their away to 348-4 in 50 overs.

The foundation was laid out by skipper Shan Masood and Sohaib Maqsood, who shared a massive second-wicket partnership of exactly 200, with both men striking contrasting tons. While Shan struck a 141-ball 125 (13 fours and one six), Sohaib bludgeoned 10 sixes and nine fours in making a whirlwind 130. But their heroics failed to stop Sindh from sealing their seventh success with 19 balls to spare.

Four of the Sindh batsmen scored more than 50 but the game-changing stand was the unbroken stand of 145 between joint winners of the man-of-the-match award Saad Ali (78 off 54, nine fours and one six) and captain Anwar Ali (69 off 34, five sixes and three fours), while other main contributors were Asad Shafiq (62 off 61, seven boundaries) and Danish Aziz (64 off 61, eight fours and one six).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa posted 328-9 after they were inserted in at the UBL Sports Complex by Central Punjab. Fakhar Zaman (92 off 95, eight fours and three sixes) and man-of-the-match Iftikhar Ahmed (76 off 71, five sixes and four fours) put on 145 for the third wicket but the icing on the cake was decorated by Adil Amin's 43-ball 51 (three sixes and two fours).

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