Syeda Aroob Shah, Bismah Maroof set up easy victory for Challengers

Syeda Aroob Shah's searing spell ripped through PCB Dynamites' line-up, before Bismah Maroof's patient half-century guided PCB Challengers to an emphatic six-wicket win at Lahore Gymkhana on Tuesday (September 24). The leg-spinner's six wicket haul - the best figures in the tournament so far - was the highlight of the day. She accounted for the big wickets of Sana Mir, Kainat Imtiaz and Nida Dar as Dynamites crashed to 131 all out.

Chasing a modest target Challengers got off to a poor start as they lost their openers inside the first 10 overs. Imtiaz and Mir started well with the ball for Dynamites, picking up wickets and keeping the scoring rate down. The right arm pacer accounted for the wickets of Khadija Chishti for 15 and Natalia Pervaiz for four, after Anam Amin, the left-arm spinner, castled Javeria Rauf for a first-ball duck. Before they knew it, Challengers had fallen to 37 for 3 within the power play.

With her team in need of a calm head to guide them through the situation, Maroof came to her team's rescue. She brought all her experience to the fore, putting together a 46-run stand with Sidra Nawaz (17), and following it up with an unbeaten 49-run association with Iram Javed.

Javed went at almost a run-a-ball finding the boundary on four occasions in her 36-ball 31. Bismah Maroof, on the other hand, stayed slightly more patient - occupying the crease for 72 balls on her way to 55. The Challengers' captain struck 11 boundaries, getting her team over the line in 28.5 overs.

Earlier, Dynamites got off to a steady start as their openers put on 41 runs inside nine overs. Nahida Khan and Muneeba Ali both got starts, finding the boundary consistently and looked set to kick on. However, the former's wicket triggered a bit of a collapse as Dynamites went on to lose four wickets for 21 runs.

The fourth wicket - that of Mir - began the Aroob Shah show. While Imtiaz attempted to carry on her good form with the bat, collecting three boundaries on her way to 22, her dismissal in the 26th over - caught behind off the leg-spinner - saw the rest of Challengers' line-up crumble in a heap.

Aroob Shah ripped through the lower-middle order to finish with astonishing figures of 8.5-1-41-6. Twice in her spell, the 15-year-old took two wickets in an over to help dismiss Dynamites for 131 in 41.5 overs.

 

Brief scores: PCB Dynamites 131 in 41.5 overs (Muneeba Ali 25, Kainat Imtiaz 22; Syeeda Aroob Shah 6-41) lost to PCB Challengers 132/4 in 28.5 overs (Bismah Maroof  55*, Iram Javed 31*; Kainat Imtiaz 2-18) by six wickets. PoM: Syeda Aroob Shah.