The 2017–18 National T20 Cup was a

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

domestic

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

competition that was played in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It was the fourteenth season of the National Twenty20 Cup in Pakistan. It was originally scheduled to take place in August and September 2017 with eight teams competing. However, in August 2017, it was announced that the tournament would be postponed until November 2017 because of the 2017 Independence Cup and Pakistan's series against Sri Lanka. All the matches were originally scheduled to be played at the

Multan Cricket Stadium The Multan Cricket Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Multan, Punjab, Pakistan, owned by the Pakistan Cricket Board. The stadium is located off Vehari Road, in the suburbs of Multan. It has a capacity of 35,000. It hosted its first test matc ...

and the

Iqbal Stadium Iqbal Stadium ( ur, اقبال سٹیڈیم) is a Test cricket ground in Faisalabad, Pakistan. Previous names for the ground include Lyallpur Stadium, National Stadium, and City Stadium. It was founded in October 1978. History Iqbal Stadium wa ...

. Following the revised dates to the competition, all the fixtures took place at the

Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is a cricket stadium located in DKS Rawalpindi in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is near to Pir Meher Ali Shah University, Rawalpindi, and Rawalpindi Arts Council, Rawalpindi. The first international match at the ...

. The tournament started on 11 November and was scheduled to conclude on 26 November 2017. However, the semi-final fixtures were initially postponed by the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...

(PCB) by one day, following a protest by a religious party, which required more than 8,500 police and troops to remove the protesters. The next day, the PCB postponed the matches because of the "prevailing situation" and said they would announce new dates for the tournament at a later point. The PCB also confirmed that the Super Eight section of the

2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The 2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was the 60th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan's domestic first-class cricket competition. It was contested by 16 teams representing eight regional associations and eight departments, and took place ...

would also be postponed until a later date too. On 27 November 2017 the PCB confirmed that the semi-finals and final would take place on 29 and 30 November 2017 respectively. The defending champions,

Karachi Blues Karachi cricket teams competed in the Pakistani first-class cricket tournaments the Patron's Trophy and Quaid-e-Azam Trophy from 1953-54 to 2018-19. Beginning with the 2019-20 season, the city of Karachi has been represented in the Quaid-e-Azam T ...

, were not invited by the PCB to compete in this year's competition. Ahead of the tournament, the PCB recalled thirteen players who were playing in domestic competitions in England and in the

2017 Caribbean Premier League The 2017 Caribbean Premier League (CPLT20) or for sponsorship reasons, Hero CPL 2017 was the fifth season of the Caribbean Premier League, the domestic Twenty20 cricket league in the West Indies. Matches were played in seven countries – Trini ...

(CPL). However, shortly afterwards the PCB allowed players to return from the CPL and English domestic fixtures if they wished. In the penultimate group-stage match, between

Lahore Whites Lahore cricket teams, representing the city of Lahore, competed in Pakistan's first-class cricket tournaments from 1958–59 to 2018–19. They have also competed in the national 50-over and Twenty-20 tournaments as the Lahore Lions. Teams F ...

and

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...

, batsmen

Kamran Akmal Kamran Akmal (Urdu, pa, ; born 13 January 1982) is a Pakistani former cricketer, who played for Pakistan as a right-handed batsman & wicketkeeper. He started his international career in November 2002 with a Test match at Harare Sports Club. ...

and

Salman Butt Salman Butt (, born 7 October 1984) is a former Pakistani cricketer and captain who played for Pakistan national cricket team between 2003 and 2010, before getting banned for five years for his involvement in 2010 spot-fixing scandal. He had ...

made an unbeaten opening stand of 209 runs. This was the highest opening partnership in Twenty20 cricket, beating the previous best of 207 runs set by

Joe Denly Joseph Liam Denly (born 16 March 1986) is an English professional cricketer who plays for Kent County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional leg break bowler who plays as a top-order batsman. Denly played age group cricket f ...

and

Daniel Bell-Drummond Daniel James Bell-Drummond (born 4 August 1993) is an English professional cricketer, who plays for Kent County Cricket Club primarily as a batsman. He has represented England at youth level and has played for the England Lions cricket team a ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in the 2017 NatWest t20 Blast. Akmal became the first batsman for Pakistan to score 150 runs in a T20 match. He also hit the most number of sixes in a domestic T20 match in Pakistan and became the third batsman to make five consecutive fifties in T20 cricket. Lahore Whites were the first side to qualify for the semi-finals, when they beat

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

by 27 runs on 21 November 2017. The next day,

Lahore Blues Lahore cricket teams, representing the city of Lahore, competed in Pakistan's first-class cricket tournaments from 1958–59 to 2018–19. They have also competed in the national 50-over and Twenty-20 tournaments as the Lahore Lions. Teams Fr ...

also qualified for the semi-finals, with a five-wicket victory against Islamabad. In the penultimate round of group-stage fixtures,

Faisalabad Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur ( Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...

beat Peshawar by five wickets to advance to the semi-finals. In the final group-stage match,

Federally Administered Tribal Areas , conventional_long_name = Federally Administered Tribal Areas , nation = Pakistan , subdivision = Autonomous territory , image_flag = Flag of FATA.svg , image_coat = File:Coat of arms ...

beat Faisalabad by four wickets to progress to the semi-finals, having a superior

net run rate Net run rate (NRR) is a statistical method used in analysing teamwork and/or performance in cricket. It is the most commonly used method of ranking teams with equal points in limited overs league competitions, similar to goal difference in foo ...

than

Karachi Whites Karachi cricket teams competed in the Pakistani first-class cricket tournaments the Patron's Trophy and Quaid-e-Azam Trophy from 1953-54 to 2018-19. Beginning with the 2019-20 season, the city of Karachi has been represented in the Quaid-e-Azam Tr ...

, after both teams finished on seven points each. In the semi-finals,

Saeed Ajmal Saeed Ajmal SI ( Punjabi, ; born 14 October 1977) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer, who played all forms of the game. He is a right-arm off-spin bowler who bats right handed. At domestic level in Pakistan he represented Fai ...

played in his final match of his 25-year-long career, playing for Faisalabad. In the first semi-final, Lahore Whites defeated Faisalabad by 10 runs. In the second semi-final, Lahore Blues defeated Federally Administered Tribal Areas, also by 10 runs, therefore ensuring an all-Lahore final. Lahore Blues went on to beat Lahore Whites by 7 wickets in the final.

Squads

Ahead of the tournament, the following players were selected:

Points table

Team qualified for the

Semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

Fixtures

Round-robin

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Knockout stage

Semi-finals

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Final

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:National T20 Cup 2017-18 Pakistani cricket seasons from 2000–01 Domestic cricket competitions in 2017–18 2017 in Pakistani cricket 2017-18 National T20 Cup