The Dolphins triumphed over the Lions by 16 runs in the 10th match of the Champions One-Day Cup held at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad on Sunday.
The Dolphins successfully defended their target of 327 runs, restricting the Lions to 310 for eight wickets in their allotted 50 overs.
Despite a valiant effort from Khushdil Shah, who scored 60 runs, and Shaheen Shah Afridi's 33 runs, the Lions could not achieve the target.
The Lions' batting struggled early on, with only Rohail Nazir and Mohammad Taha making notable contributions of 62 off 70 and 40 off 49 balls respectively. Other contributions came from Abdullah Shafique (27 off 42), Omair Yousuf (26 off 27) and Sharoon Siraj (25 off 18).
The Dolphins bowlers kept up the pressure, with Saud Shakeel and Abbas Afridi taking two wickets each, while Mir Hamza, Sufiyan Muqeem, Faheem Ashraf and Qasim Akram took one wicket each.
Earlier in the day, the Dolphins won the toss and elected to bat first. They were bowled out for 326, with Umar Amin top-scoring with 75 runs off 81 balls.
Despite losing wickets regularly, the Dolphins kept the scoreboard ticking with remarkable knocks from Muhammad Akhlaq (52 off 50), Mohammad Huraira (47 off 41) and captain Saud Shakeel, who added 23 off 23. Further down the order, Qasim Akram (31 off 26) and Faheem Ashraf (30 off 20) added crucial runs to the total.
For the Lions, Aamer Jamal claimed three wickets while Shaheen Afridi and Ahmed Daniyal took two each. Khushdil Shah and Sharoon Siraj also chipped in with a wicket each but their efforts were not enough to secure the win.
Playing XI
Dolphins: Sahibzada Farhan, Muhammad Huraira, Muhammad Akhlaq (wk), Umar Amin, Saud Shakeel (c), Asif Ali, Qasim Akram, Faheem Ashraf, Abbas Afridi, Mir Hamza, Sufiyan Muqeem
Lions: Abdullah Shafique, Sharoon Siraj, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Taha, Irfan Khan, Khushdil Shah, Aamer Jamal, Rohail Nazir (wk), Mohammad Asghar, Shaheen Shah Afridi (c), Ahmed Daniyal
