The Conqueror’s were up against the Knights, both sides who had won their previous encounters. The setting was the LGCC home ground for this fixture, the same venue were the the Knights had trumped the Conquerors in last season’s eliminator.

Captain Waseem Ahmed of the Knights won the toss and has no hesitation in wanting to set a score once again. The start was subdued due to some excellent new ball bowling by Harris and Naghman, who kept things in check early on. Openers Daud and Hafiz Zafarullah were watchful early on but eventually broke the shackles with some lusty hits to get their innings moving. Stand in Captain Nabil Khalid who has been in sublime form with the bat decided to roll over his arm with the ball, and he was rewarded with the big wicket and breakthrough, as Daud Ahmed holed out post powerplay for 18 (18 balls). Hafiz sab who himself has been in good batting form in the KCL continued to keep the scoreboard ticking with the occasional boundary, whilst a couple of wickets fell to peg back the Knights in the first 10 overs, with the run rate around 6 runs per over.

Safeer Ahmed who was brilliant with his quick innings in the previous match for the Knights sensed that the Knights had to make a move on, and he did so by putting the foot down and taking on the MC bowlers with some brilliant strikes down the ground. Hafiz sab completed another KCL 50 (59 off 48) whilst Safeer powered his way to a well made 52* off 36 (144 strike rate). Imran Qaiser propelled the total for the Conquerors with a blistering 24 off 10 balls, hitting a couple of sixes that required a lot of searching on the road outside of the park. A total of 172-3 was set by the end of the 20 overs, and this was going to require some hard work for the Conquerors.

The start was ideal for the Knights, with Hadi bowling out Imran Mane in the first over. The conquerors had a spell of consolidation with the bat but also keeping the scoreboard ticking with some fantastic cricket shots by both Bilal and form man Nabil. A 65 run partnership between the two was broken in the 10th over with Fareed getting his man Bilal (39 off 33) in a good caught and bowled. With Nabil set at the crease, the knights needed a further 108 runs in the last 10 overs of the innings. Abid Ahmed was looking in good touch with his 14 off 11 adding Impetus in the chase, but Fareed also succeeded in foxing him out. Nabil kept chipping away at the total, and he was helped massively by a crucial impactful innings by Harris Usman, who’s 22 off 8 balls (275 strike rate) ensured that the required run rate of 10-11 was within reach for the set Nabil and the remaining lower order batsmen.

After Harris’s wicket, 33 were needed in the last 3 overs. Nabil knew that it was down to him to make sure that he is the one doing the most damage, and he did so taking 11 runs each in the 18th and 19th over, whilst also ensuring that he is the one on strike for the final over against Zeyan, who although was expensive yet he did take the crucial wickets of Harris and Naghman to keep the Knights in the game. Zeyan was trusted to bowl the 3rd over by Wasim, and he nearly did the job with 4 runs required to win off the last ball, and Nabil not on strike to face it! It was all down on Zeeshan Anjum to get these last 4 runs for the conquerors on the last ball of the match, and he did it with a mistimed pull to deep square leg, which teased the chasing fielder to the very last moment but eventually trickling away for 4 runs! Heartbreak for the Knights but huge celebrations in the MC camp having pulled off a thrilling chase on the last ball of the match!

Nabil Khalid was rightfully awarded the player of the match award for his excellent 85* off 61 balls. A fantastic 2 points for the Merciful Conquerors who have shown great character and determination to win this epic contest!

Scorecard Summary is as follows;

Man of the match;