The 2020–21 National T20 Cup was a

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

domestic

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

competition that was played in Pakistan. It was the 17th season of the

National T20 Cup The National T20 Cup is a men's professional domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in Pakistan. Established in 2005, it is one of the world's oldest Twenty20 cricket leagues. It was the principal T20 competition in the country until 2016, when ...

, and started on 30 September 2020, and finished on 18 October 2020.

Northern cricket team Northern cricket team was a domestic cricket team in Pakistan representing Rawalpindi Division, Islamabad Capital Territory, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu & Kashmir. It competed in domestic first-class, List A and T20 cricket competitions, ...

were the defending champions. The season featured an expanded format, with the number of matches increasing from 18 to 33. In July 2020, the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...

(PCB) announced that the tournament would be held either in

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

. In August 2020, it was confirmed that the first leg will be played in Multan, and the final leg in Rawalpindi. On the opening day of the tournament,

Abdullah Shafique Abdullah Shafique (; born 20 November 1999) is a Pakistani international cricketer who plays for the Pakistan national cricket team across all formats. A right-handed top-order batter, he also plays for Lahore Qalandars in the PSL and previous ...

Central Punjab Central Punjab is a geopolitical region in Punjab, Pakistan. Geography Central Punjab is bounded by the southern boundary of Jhelum River down to the Sutlej, and consists of the five divisions: Lahore, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, and Sahiwa ...

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 (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

's bowler

Shaheen Afridi Shaheen Shah Afridi (; born 6 April 2000) is a Pakistani cricket, international cricketer and former captain of the national T20I team. A left-arm fast bowler, he made his debut for Pakistan in 2018, and quickly became a leading figure, winning t ...

took two

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Takin ...

s in four games, with 5/20 against

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

, and 5/21 against

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

. 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 (, Punjabi: لہور لائنز abbreviated as LIO) was a Pakistani franchise cricket team representing the city of Lahore and was one of the 19 domestic teams. The team was established by Lahore Regional Cricket Association in 2 ...

. 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 score the fastest century in a Twenty20 match by a Pakistani batsman, doing so in 35 balls. On 10 October 2020,

Shoaib Malik Shoaib Malik ( Punjabi, (; born 1 February 1982) is a Pakistani cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team and currently plays for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was the captain of the Pakistan nati ...

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 Mohammad Babar Azam (Urdu, ; ; born 15 October 1994) is a Pakistani international cricketer and a former Captain (cricket), captain of the Pakistan national cricket team , national team in all three formats of the game. A right-handed top-orde ...

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 ( Punjabi, Urdu: ; born 13 January 1982) is a Pakistani cricket administrator, coach and former cricketer, who played for Pakistan as a right-handed batsman & wicketkeeper. He started his international career in November 2002 with ...

, also playing for Central Punjab, became the first wicket-keeper to affect 100

stumpings Stumped is a method of dismissing a batter in cricket, in which the wicket-keeper puts down the wicket of the striker while the striker is out of their ground. It is governed by Law 39 of the Laws of Cricket. Being "out of their ground" m ...

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

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, 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.

cricketer

Salman Butt Salman Butt ( Punjabi:سلمان بٹ; 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 a 2010 spo ...

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 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 Rana Faheem Ashraf (; born 16 January 1994) is a Pakistani international cricketer who represents the national side and plays first-class cricket for Faisalabad. In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central contrac ...

, who was ruled out for the matches in Multan, due to fitness issues. Mohammad Ismail replaced

Imad Wasim Syed Imad Wasim (; born 18 December 1988), commonly known as Imad Wasim, is a Pakistani cricketer who played for Pakistan national cricket team from 2015 to 2024. He is a left-handed all-rounder. Imad is considered as a Twenty20 specialist and pl ...

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, who replaced

Imran Farhat Imran Farhat (Punjabi:عمران فرحت , 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 inni ...

. Central Punjab replaced

Bilal Asif Mohammad Bilal Asif (born 24 September 1985) is a Pakistani cricketer who represents the national team and also a singer-songwriter. In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by ...

with Muhammad Akhlaq. Southern Punjab also made changes to their squad; Bilawal Bhatti,

Mohammad Irfan Mohammad Irfan ( Punjabi, ; born 6 June 1982) is a former Pakistani cricketer who has represented Pakistan in Test, ODI and T20 cricket. Known for his height of , he is the tallest player to play first-class and international cricket. Earl ...

and Rahat Ali 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 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

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Finals

---- ----

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