Rawalakot Hawks advance to playoffs after win against Bagh Stallions

Muzaffarabad

Rawalakot Hawks beat Bagh Stallions by five wickets to qualify for the playoffs of the Kashmir Premier League (KPL) 2021 on Wednesday.

Afridi’s side chased Stallions’ 157 runs target in the second last over of the innings. Bagh Stallions won the toss and elected to bat first against a strong and consistently performing Rawalakot Hawks side.

The team lost its top-order batters early on while four of the top six players scored double digit runs but failed to play bigger innings.

Hawks kept Stallions under pressure as Bagh Stallions lost half of their batters by the 11th over, having scored just 58.

Amir Yamin changed the whole shape and structure of the game as Stallions’ allrounder scored 69 off 34, smashing the ball for 10 fours and three sixes.

In the remaining cast of Stallions batting line-up, Shan Masood scored most runs as skipper played an inning of 20 off 24. Zaman Khan and Asif Afridi got 3 and 2 scalps respectively.

Ahmad Shehzad and Bismillah Khan helped Hawks get off to a cracking start, scoring 56 in 5.2 before Ahmad Shehzad lost his wicket to Mohammad Ilyas.

Bismillah Khan also scored quick 33 while a 60 runs stand between Kashif Ali and Sahibzada Farhan helped Hawks reach 136, quite closer to the total as just couple of runs off Talat and Imran’s bats proved enough to reach 157 in 18.2 overs at the loss of 5 wickets.

Kashif Ali scored a brilliant inning of 54 off 40 while Umaid Asif and Mohammad Ilyas got 2’2 wickets each. Hawks have become the first side to reach the playoffs of the tournament.—AFP