Pakistan opener Saim Ayub grabbed the headlines with his bowling performance on Tuesday (September 24), as he took a five-wicket haul in the Champions One-Day Cup Qualifier.
In the first qualifier of Pakistan's newest 50-over domestic competition, UMT Markhors won the toss and chose to bat against the Lake City Panthers in Faisalabad.
They were rocked early as opener Haseebullah was dismissed in the second over by youngster Ali Raza, before Mohammad Hasnain struck twice off consecutive deliveries in the third over to get rid of Kamran Ghulam for one, and Mohammad Rizwan for a golden duck.
At the end of 25 overs, Markhors were 97-4 when Panthers and Pakistan opener Saim Ayub entered the attack to bowl his part-time spin. He took his first wicket in his third over, the 30th of the innings. A smart variation drifted in to pitch on middle stump, before turning sharply to beat the bat of right-hander Abdul Samad and knock back off stump.
Saim then got rid of the well-set Salman Ali Agha, as the batter hit a tossed-up delivery straight to Shadab Khan at cover, departing for 52. Zahid Mehmood became his third victim, attempting to sweep but only finding the fielder on the fence at deep square leg.
Saim took his last two wickets with the last two balls of his sixth over – first, doing well to turn, sprint and hold on to a skier from Naseem Shah off his own bowling and second, getting one to turn back into No.11 Shahnawaz Dahani to knock back the stumps. Markhors were bowled out for 137.
Read more: England concede rare 'Bodyline' no-ball for illegal leg-side field placings
This was Saim's first-ever five-wicket haul in List A cricket, and the first time he had ever picked up more than two wickets in a List A match. His previous best figures were 2-25, for Sindh against Northern in March 2022. This performance came on the back of a superb knock of 156 in Panthers' previous match, against Stallions.
At the time of writing, Panthers were 13-0 in 2.2 overs, with Saim unbeaten on seven.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
