Shakir Ahmed, having won the toss, had no hesitation in wanting to bat first. The scene was set for a great contest between two competitive sides.

It didn’t take long for Rehan Mansoor to get in on the act after his new ball masterclass in the previous game, his latest victim being Umar Hassan in the first over of the match and surmounting early pressure on the strikers. Being more aware of the threat posed by the Royals with the new ball, the strikers’ 3rd wicket partnership were watchful yet on the lookout to put away balls that needed to be put away. Left handed opener Amir Saeed alongside the experience of the legendary Anees Butt ensured that too many wickets didn’t fall in the powerplay, but Rehan and Rizwan (the two Rs) were once again in the wickets column striking in the 6th and 7th over to remove the two with the score at 3-45 in 7 overs.

Whilst the calm head of Qaiser Mahmood held one end for the Strikers at the crease, Mudassar Dogar continued to charge forward with a thrusting 44 off 33, a timely innings setting the base for a strong finish for the strikers with the score at 101-4 in 13 overs. Irfan Ahmed entered the crease at a stage best suited to him, with an ideal amount of deliveries left and enough wickets in the bank for him to play in his natural dominating style. The Royals who have been good with the ball so far could not contain Irfan on this occasion who blasted his way to an important 35 off 20 at a strike rate of 175. An innings of substance and impact at the back end, with the help of a quick 11 off 7 by Shakir, enabled the strikers to reach a good total of 165-7 in their 20 overs. A closely contested first half of the match which was shaping up towards an interesting second half.

After a quiet first over by Shahzad Ahmed, the Royals were up against it when Zeeshan Ali took the crucial wicket of Ali Raza in the second over of the innings, with the score at 1-6. With pressure from the off-set, Farhan Ahmed backed himself to take his chances and was on his merry way in the powerplay having scored the bulk of the runs in a 40 run partnership off 24 balls. Impact all rounder Irfan Ahmed was called into the 6th over of the powerplay and immediately broke the threatening partnership, whilst the threat itself (Farhan) was still at the crease. With no one besides Farhan getting into their groove on this track, Irfan continued to strike for the strikers with the wicket of Tariq Zaheer and the score at 75-3 in 8.3 overs (but Farhan was still there).

In situations as such, Atta ul Babar who himself is very capable of taking the lead when it comes to power hitting had no issues in taking the back seat and letting the confident striker of the ball (Farhan) doing most of the heavy lifting. A partnership of 64 in 48 balls between the two, with Babar scoring 17 off 25 helped the Royals reach 139-4 with 21 balls remaining and 27 more runs to get. Whilst Irfan finished his spell with a brilliant 3-22, the other Striker’s bowlers had no answer to the brilliance of Farhan who at this point was on 95* off 52 balls, having scored 70 of his runs in 20 balls (7 fours and 7 sixes)!

The stage was set for Farhan to score a memorable hundred and win this match for his side in the final 18 balls of the match. A good 18th over by Zeeshan which only cost the Strikers 5 runs and the reward of Rehan’s wicket meant that the Royals still had work to do in reaching this total with 20 runs needed off 12 balls. Shahzad Ahmed was called upon to bowl the penultimate over of the innings, and he was almost successful in taking the match into a difficult final over for the Royals, but a six of the second last ball of the over by Farhan was the final deafening blow for the Royals! Farhan completed his century and single digit 8 runs needed in the last over was going to be a lot more easier with Farhan seeing the ball like a beach ball! The Royals, with the help of Farhan’s red hot striking form eventually chased the runs down with 3 balls and 5 wickets to spare in the final over, with Farhan carrying the bat throughout and finishing on a magnificent 116* of 61 balls, which included 8 fours and 9 sixes and a strike rate of 190.16.

There is no doubt that Farhan Ahmed was going to be awarded the MOTM award for one of the great, standout innings of the tournament. The young man totally stole the show and announced himself as one of the upcoming talents of the league! A great victory for the Royals who are now looking to have found a winning vibe going into the business end of the tournament.

Scorecard Summary is as follows;

Man of the Match;