Sialkot Stallions captain Shoaib Malik was a satisfied man after his team beat Hampshire by six wickets in the second match of their Champions League T20 qualifier.
Stallions lost to Auckland, the third team in the qualifying group, in their first outing and were out of reckoning for a place in the main round but a convincing win over the county side gave Malik reason to smile.
“At least we are taking something home,” said Malik. “I’m very pleased with the way we played together. We’re still struggling in our bowling department but our batsmen played well. It wasn’t that easy. We came only four to five days back but I felt we adapted well.”
This was the first time a domestic side from Pakistan took part in the tournament although it was unable to make it to the main round.
Haris Sohail hit an unbeaten 63 as Sialkot chased down a modest 144-run total in the final over on Thursday.
Sohail was well-supported by captain Malik who hit a whirlwind 39 off just 25 balls. While Sohail’s innings consisted of eight boundaries and a six, Malik hit six fours and a maximum.
The pair added 96 for the fourth wicket after Sialkot were reduced to 28 for three and in danger of losing their second successive game in the competition. However, the pair was able to steer the team out of trouble.
Earlier, Umaid Asif took the wickets of Glenn Maxwell and Shahid Afridi off consevutive balls to peg back Hampshire.
Afridi, who was dropped on five, was eventually out for 14 off 16 balls. But it was Maxwell who did the damage with a 29-ball 42. With the duo’s dismissal, Hampshire were unable to accelerate and had to be content with 143 on the board.
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