Champions One-Day Cup 2024, PAN vs MAR Final Match Report, September 29, 2024

Panthers 123 for 5 (Bangalzai 41, Imran 2-11, Javed 2-42) beat Markhors 122 (Fakhar 46, Minhas 3-1, Hasnain 3-38) by five wickets

It took Shadab Khan’s men just 18 overs to knock off the runs, as a tournament that had seen all but one game end in victory for the side batting first reversed the script dramatically in the final.

Markhors won the toss and batted, but ran into early trouble when Zain Abbas nicked off in the third over, with Kamran Ghulam following cheaply soon after. Fakhar Zaman and Haseebullah Khan appeared to be steering the ship back on course with a 56-run partnership that had the Markhors respectably placed at 82 for 2.

Hasnain returned to remove captain Iftikhar and Abdul Samad in quick succession, and the Panthers were into the tail. Minhas and Shadab made short work of them, with the Markhors losing their last eight wickets for 40 runs in 91 deliveries to finish with the smallest first-innings total in the entire competition.

Umar Siddiq and Abdul Bangalzai broke the back of the chase early, bringing up the 50-partnership in seven overs. Bangalzai’s 43-ball 41 took the pressure off before Markhors began to chip away with wickets. Shahnawaz Dahani cleaned up Siddiq before Akif Javed and Mohammad Imran split four wickets amongst them, but by that time, the result was little more than a formality.

Unbeaten cameos from Shadab and Rizwan Mehmood put together an undefeated 29-run partnership in three overs to finish the game and seal the inaugural Champions One-Day Cup title for Panthers.