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2020–21 National T20 Cup

Dates	30 September – 18 October 2020
Administrator(s)	Pakistan Cricket Board
Cricket format	Twenty20
Tournament format(s)	Double round-robin and final
Host(s)	Pakistan
Champions	Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (1st title)
Participants	6
Matches	33
Player of the series	Fakhar Zaman
Most runs	Fakhar Zaman (420)
Most wickets	Shaheen Afridi (20)
Official website	National T20 Cup
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The 2020–21 National T20 Cup was a Twenty20 domestic cricket competition that was played in Pakistan. It was the 17th 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 the number of matches increasing from 18 to 33. In July 2020, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that the tournament would be held either in Multan or Rawalpindi. 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 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's bowler Shaheen Afridi took two five-wicket hauls in four games, with 5/20 against Balochistan, 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.

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 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, 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, 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 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, who was ruled out for the matches in Multan, due to fitness issues. Mohammad Ismail replaced Imad Wasim 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. Central Punjab replaced Bilal Asif with Muhammad Akhlaq. Southern Punjab also made changes to their squad; Bilawal Bhatti, Mohammad Irfan 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

•   Advanced to the semi-finals

Fixtures

On 24 September 2020, the PCB named all the match officials for the tournament.

Round-robin

• Northern won the toss and elected to bat.

• Southern Punjab won the toss and elected to bat.
• Abdullah Shafique, Irfan Khan and Qasim Akram (Central Punjab) all made their T20 debuts.
• Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab) became the first Pakistani batsman to score a century on his first-class and T20 debut.

• Balochistan won the toss and elected to bat.

• Northern won the toss and elected to bat.

• Balochistan won the toss and elected to bat.

• Central Punjab won the toss and elected to bat.

• Central Punjab won the toss and elected to field.

• Southern Punjab won the toss and elected to field.

• Balochistan won the toss and elected to bat.

• Sindh won the toss and elected to field.

• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won the toss and elected to field.

• Balochistan won the toss and elected to bat.

• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won the toss and elected to bat.

• Balochistan won the toss and elected to bat.
• Khurram Shehzad (Balochistan) made his T20 debut.

• Northern won the toss and elected to bat.

• Southern Punjab won the toss and elected to field.
• Khushdil Shah (Southern Punjab) scored the fastest century in a T20 match by a Pakistani batsman (35 balls).

• Balochistan won the toss and elected to field.
• Abdul Bangalzai (Balochistan) made his T20 debut.

• Sindh won the toss and elected to field.

• Southern Punjab won the toss and elected to field.

• Sindh won the toss and elected to field.

• Southern Punjab won the toss and elected to field.

• Central Punjab won the toss and elected to field.

• Sindh won the toss and elected to field.
• Mohammad Haris (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) made his T20 debut.

• Central Punjab won the toss and elected to field.

• Northern won the toss and elected to field.

• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won the toss and elected to field.

• Northern won the toss and elected to bat.
• Akhtar Shah (Balochistan) made his T20 debut.

• Sindh won the toss and elected to field.
• Mohammad Taha (Sindh) made his T20 debut.

• Northern won the toss and elected to bat.

• Balochistan won the toss and elected to bat.

Finals

• Northern won the toss and elected to bat.

• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won the toss and elected to field.

• Southern Punjab won the toss and elected to field.

References

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2. "Cricket returns to Pakistan as Covid-19 situation improves". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
3. "PCB amps up white-ball formats with eye on ICC tournaments in 2021-22". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
4. "PCB announce 2020-2021 domestic season squads". Geo Super. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
5. "Umar Amin, allrounders star as Northern power through to title". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
6. "Northern beat Balochistan to be crowned National T20 Cup champions". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
7. "PCB announces 208 match 2020–21 domestic schedule". Pakistan Cricket Board. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
8. "Pakistan domestic cricket likely to start with T20 Cup in September". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
9. "Six Cricket Association squads confirmed". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
10. "Was the Rajasthan Royals' 226 for 6 last week the highest successful chase in the IPL?". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
11. "Shaheen Afridi five-for gives Khyber Pakhtunkhwa first points". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
12. "Shaheen Afridi's second five-for seals dominant Khyber Pakhtunkhwa win". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
13. "Fakhar Zaman, bowlers, give Khyber Pakhtunkhwa fourth straight win". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
14. "Rohail Nazir and Asif Ali guide Northern to 10th consecutive T20 victory". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
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16. "Khusdil Shah slams Pakistan's fastest T20 ton as Southern Punjab ace 217 chase". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
17. "Shoaib Malik becomes first Asian to score 10,000 runs in T20". Dunya News. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
18. "National T20 Cup: Awais Zia stars as Balochistan defeat KP". Samaa. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
19. "Pakistan captain Babar Azam sets new record in the National T20 Cup". Batting with Bimal. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
20. "Kamran Akmal sets T20 wicketkeeping record". Samaa. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
21. "Haris Rauf's four wicket haul secures semi-final berth for Northern". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
22. "Haris Rauf, Imad Wasim put Northern in semi-finals". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
23. "Azam Khan and Anwar Ali the stars as Sindh book semi-final spot". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
24. "Sohaib Maqsood 29-ball 81 scripts stunning Southern Punjab semi-final spot". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
25. "National T20 Cup: Sohaib powers Southern Punjab into semis". Samaa. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
26. "Umar Gul retires from all forms of cricket". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
27. "PCB congratulates Umar Gul on a successful career". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
28. "National T20 Cup: Southern Punjab defeat Northern to reach final". Samaa. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
29. "Mohammad Rizwan's KP knocks out Sarfaraz Ahmed's Sindh to reach National T20 Cup final". Geo Super. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
30. "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Southern Punjab to clinch National T20 Cup title". Geo Super. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
31. "PCB reveals squads for national T20 Cup". Geo Super. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
32. "Squads for National T20 Cup confirmed". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
33. "Salman Butt refuses to play National T20 Cup after Central Punjab demotes him". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
34. "Injured Rumman Raees ruled out of domestic season, career under threat". Geo Super. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
35. "Player replacements for National T20 Cup". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
36. "Balochistan call-up Quetta-born Abdul Wahid Bangalzai for First XI National T20 Cup". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
37. "Naseem Shah withdrawn from National T20 Cup due to groin niggle". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
38. "Balochistan make two changes for National T20 Cup". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
39. "Match officials for National T20 Cup announced". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
40. "CP's Abdullah Shafique scores first century of National T20 Cup 2020 in win over SP". Geo Super. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
41. "Khushdil Shah sets new record of fastest T20 century by a Pakistani". Geo Super. Retrieved 9 October 2020.

External links

• Series home at ESPN Cricinfo

• 2020 in Pakistani cricket
• Domestic cricket competitions in 2020–21
• National Twenty20 Cup seasons
• Pakistani cricket seasons from 2000–01