PESHAWAR: Karachi Region Whites registered their second successive win in the National T20 Cup 2026 by beating Bahawalpur Region by 12 runs in a rain-interrupted match at the Imran Khan Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Bahawalpur scored 185-8 in the allotted 20 overs after batting with excellent batting from Muhammad Imran and Muhammad Faizan Jafar.
Openers Muhammad Akram and Faizan Jaffer provided a solid foundation for this innings as they shared a fluent 54-run partnership.
Akram scored a blistering 25 off 19 balls that included 5 fours, with Muhammad Umar providing the breakthrough.
The promising Saim Ayub then struck for Karachi, pacing Saad Khan for 8 off six balls, which included a six. As a result, Bahawalpur scored 63 runs for the loss of 2 wickets at the end of 7 overs.
Haider Ali smashed his first delivery for a six, but his stay at the crease was cut short by seven runs when he was run out by Saqib Khan.
At the other end, Faizan Zafar continued to play well and scored a half-century. However, he was dismissed by Ayub for 49 runs, painfully one run short of his fifty. He was dismissed off 33 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes.
After that it was Muhammad Irfan who took center stage and played a disastrous innings lower down the order. He scored a 35-ball 59 for Bahawalpur, hitting five sixes and a four, before becoming Umar’s second victim.
Muhammad Sarwar (15), Daniel Hussain Rajput (5), and M Asif’s unbeaten 12 off five balls helped the total to 185.
For Karachi Whites, Muhammad Umar was the pick of the bowlers, returning impressive figures of 3-27 from his four overs. Saim Ayub took two important wickets while Saqib Khan and Rizwanullah took one each.
In return, Karachi’s chase was interrupted by rain, leading to a revised target.
The new equation did little to deter the informed opening pair of Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal. Both approached the chase with aggressive intent, knocking off the required runs with ease.
Ayub in particular was unbeaten on 53 off 33 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes.
He was ably supported by Abdullah Fazal, who scored a steady 25 off 21 balls including three fours.
Karachi Whites reached the set target of 78 runs in 9 overs, a comprehensive 12-run win under the DLS system and maintained the perfect start to the tournament.