After winning to the toss, Lahore Lions decided to bowl first. Their bowlers gave them a good start as they sent two Northern Knights batsmen – Anton Devcich and Kane Williamson — back to the pavilion within the first six overs.
But skipper Daniel Flynn and BJ Watling stitched a 90-run partnership for the fourth wicket and helped the team get back on track.
If Watling played a 53-run knock in 37 balls, laced with seven boundaries and a six, then Flynn used a mere 30 balls in his innings of 53, with the help of five fours and two sixes.
Eventually, New Zealand based club, Northern Knights, managed to put up a challenging total of 170 runs in front of Pakistan’s Lahore Lions.
But when Lions came to chase down the big total their top order crumbled as they lost five wickets within 19 runs. Tim Southee gave Knights their first breakthrough in his first over by rattling the stumps of opener Nasir Jamshed.
Then, TA Boult gave him good company to destroy the Lions batting line up. First he bowled a beauty to get the better of Ahmed Shehzad, and then followed it by a toe-crushing yorker to get rid of dangerous Umar Akmal.
Both the strike bowlers shared five wickets between them and played a key role to give their side a comprehensive win over Lahore Lions.
Saad Nasim was the only batsman to reach double figures. He did some counter-attacking and scored 58 runs in 40 balls with the help of four boundaries and a six. But it wasn’t enough for his team. A solid looking batting line up of Lions batsmen collapse like a pack of cards and was bundled out for 98 runs.
Northern Districts innings
AP Devcich c Wahab Riaz b Asif Raza 9
KS Williamson c †Umar Akmal b Aizaz Cheema 14
DJ Harris c & b Mohammad Hafeez 20
DR Flynn* st †Umar Akmal b Adnan Rasool 53
BJ Watling† c Ahmed Shehzad b Aizaz Cheema 53
SB Styris c Ahmed Shehzad b Aizaz Cheema 14
DJ Mitchell not out 1
SC Kuggeleijn not out 2
Extras 4
Total 170/6
Lahore Lions innings
Nasir Jamshed b Southee 5
Ahmed Shehzad c †Watling b Boult 2
Mohammad Hafeez* c †Watling b Southee 5
Umar Siddiq lbw b Southee 3
Umar Akmal† b Boult 1
Saad Nasim run out (Boult) 58
Asif Raza c Mitchell b Styris 5
Wahab Riaz lbw b Sodhi 2
Imran Ali c Williamson b Sodhi 8
Adnan Rasool run out (Flynn) 4
Aizaz Cheema not out 2
Extras 3
Total 98/10