The 2020–21 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 inn ...
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 str ...
competition that was played in Pakistan. It was the seventeenth season of the
National T20 Cup, and started on 30 September 2020, and finished on 18 October 2020.
Northern cricket team were the defending champions. The season featured an expanded format, with an increase from 18 to 33 matches. In July 2020, 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 Counc ...
(PCB) announced that tournament would be held either in
Multan
Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab.
Multan is one of the old ...
or
Rawalpindi. In August 2020, it was confirmed that the first leg will be played in Multan, with the final leg being held at Rawalpindi.
On the opening day of the tournament,
Abdullah Shafique
Abdullah Shafique (Punjabi:عبد اللہ شفیق); born 20 November 1999) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for the Pakistan national cricket team and for Lahore Qalandars in Pakistan Super League
Early life and family
Shafique was born in ...
of
Central Punjab scored a century on his debut. He became the second cricketer, after India's
Shivam Bhambri, to score a century on both his T20 and
first-class debuts.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
's bowler
Shaheen Afridi
Shaheen Shah Afridi ( Urdu, Pashto: ; born 6 April 2000) is a Pakistani professional cricketer who plays as a fast bowler for the Pakistan national cricket team.
Early life and career
Afridi belongs to the Zakhakhel Afridi tribe of the Pasht ...
took two
five-wicket hauls in four games, with 5/20 against
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
, and 5/21 against
Sindh. Following the conclusion of the matches in Multan, Northern won all five of their games to lead the tournament. They also recorded their tenth-consecutive victory in T20 cricket, equalling the record of the
Lahore Lions
Lahore Lions ( ur, لاہور لائنز, Punjabi: لہور لائنز abbreviated as LIO) was a Pakistani franchise cricket team representing the city Lahore and was one of the 19 domestic teams. The team was established by Lahore Regional Cr ...
.
In the first match in Rawalpindi, Northern's winning streak came to an end, after they lost to Central Punjab. The next match saw
Khushdil Shah
Khushdil Shah (Urdu, ps, خوشدل شاہ; born 7 February 1995) is a Pakistani International cricketer who played for Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He played for Multan Sultan in the Pakistan Super League. He made his international deb ...
score the fastest century in a Twenty20 match by a Pakistani batsman, doing so in 35 balls. On 10 October 2020,
Shoaib Malik became the first Pakistani batsman to score 10,000 runs in Twenty20 cricket, doing so in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's match against Balochistan. On 12 October 2020, during the match against Balochistan, Central Punjab's captain
Babar Azam became the fastest batsman to score 1,000 runs in the tournament, doing so in his 27th innings. The following day,
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. ...
, also playing for Central Punjab, became the first wicket-keeper to affect 100
stumpings in Twenty20 cricket.
On 11 October 2020, Northern became the first team to progress to the semi-finals of the tournament, after they beat
Southern Punjab by five runs, giving them six wins from their first seven matches. Following the conclusion of the first match played on 14 October 2020, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and
Sindh had also qualified for the semi-finals. On 16 October 2020, Southern Punjab became the fourth and final team to reach the semi-finals, after they beat Balochistan by seven wickets. The fixture was also the final professional match to be played by
Umar Gul
Umar Gul (Urdu: , ps, عمر گل) (born 15 October 1982 ) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who is the current bowling coach of Quetta Gladiators.
He played all three formats of the game as a right arm fast medium bowler for ...
, who retired from cricket following a career that spanned twenty years.
In the first semi-final, Southern Punjab beat Northern by seven wickets to advance to the final of the tournament. The second semi-final saw Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Sindh by eight wickets to join Southern Punjab in the tournament's final. In the final, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Southern Punjab by ten runs to win the tournament.
Squads
On 9 September 2020, the PCB confirmed all the squads for the tournament.
Central Punjab cricketer
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 ...
refused to take part in the tournament, after he was demoted from the team's first XI. Later in September 2020, Sindh's
Rumman Raees
Rumman Raees ( ur, ; born 18 October 1991) is a Pakistani cricketer who plays for United Bank Limited and the Pakistan cricket team. In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season b ...
was ruled out of the tournament due to a spinal injury, with
Ghulam Mudassar named as his replacement. In Central Punjab's squad,
Ali Shan replaced
Faheem Ashraf
Faheem Ashraf ( ur, ; born 16 January 1994) is a Pakistani international cricketer who represents the national side and plays first-class cricket for Habib Bank Limited. In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central ...
, who was ruled out for the matches in Multan, due to fitness issues.
replaced
Imad Wasim
Syed Imad Wasim Haider (in Punjabi and ur, ; born 18 December 1988), commonly known as Imad Wasim, is a Pakistani international cricketer. He is a left-handed all-rounder.
In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a cen ...
in Northern's squad, for the matches in Multan.
Ahead of the matches in Rawalpindi, three teams made changes to their squads, as they picked performing players from their respective second XI squads. Balochistan added
Abdul Bangalzai
Abdul Wahid Bangalzai (born 4 March 2003) is a Pakistani cricketer.
Early career
Bangalzai was born in Quetta into a poor family, his father being a truck worker who had to borrow money to buy his first white playing kit, Bangulzai often going t ...
, who replaced
Imran Farhat
Imran Farhat ( ur, , born 20 May 1982) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who played for Pakistan national cricket team between 2001 and 2013. He usually opened the batting in most of his international innings. In January 2021, ...
. Central Punjab replaced
Bilal Asif with
Muhammad Akhlaq. Southern Punjab also made changes to their squad;
Bilawal Bhatti,
Mohammad Irfan and
Rahat Ali
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan ( Punjabi, ; born 9 December 1974) is a Pakistani Singer, primarily of Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. Khan is one of the biggest and highest paid singers in Pakistan. He is the nephew of Nusrat Fateh Ali Kh ...
were left out, with
Dilbar Hussain,
Mohammad Imran and
Zain Abbas being included. On 10 October 2020,
Naseem Shah was withdrawn from Central Punjab's squad following a groin injury, and was replaced by
Waqas Maqsood. On 14 October 2020, Balochistan made two changes to their squad, with
Umaid Asif and
Akif Javed
Akif Javed (born 10 October 2000) is a Pakistani cricketer. In September 2019, he was named in Balochistan's squad for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament. He made his Twenty20 debut on 13 October 2019, for Balochistan in the 2019–20 ...
being replaced by
Akhtar Shah and
Taj Wali respectively.
Points table
Fixtures
On 24 September 2020, the PCB named all the match officials for the tournament.
Round-robin
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Finals
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References
External links
Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:National T20 Cup 2020-21
2020 in Pakistani cricket
Domestic cricket competitions in 2020–21
2020–21 National T20 Cup
Pakistani cricket seasons from 2000–01