LAHORE: Abbottabad Rhinos succumbed to their second successive defeat in Group A of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) 2008-09 National Twenty20 Cup Cricket Championship, when they were beaten by a convincing eight-wicket margin by Lahore Eagles, here at the Gaddafi Stadium late on Sunday night.

The match was reduced to 16 overs a side after a light tower failure early during the Abbottabad Rhinos innings. They were then bowled out for a poor 87 in 15.4 overs while Lahore Eagles reached 88 for two to win with 19 balls to spare.

Neither the Rhinos nor the Eagles are in contention for a place in the tournament semifinals though. Even the 2004-05 champions Faisalabad Wolves lost their match on Sunday to Karachi Dolphins by the narrow difference of eight runs and thus, following two wins in as many matches, the Dolphins seemed to be the team most likely to be among the last-four from Group A.

The Rhinos skipper Adnan Raees won the toss and elected to bat. Some splendid bowling by the Eagles restricted them to a small score. After pace bowler Azhar Attari and Mohammad Naved had struck the early blows, right-arm fast-medium Asif Raza, slow left-armer Suleman Khan and off-spinner Usman Malik shared in the spoils.

Usman took three wickets for 22 runs in three overs, Azhar Attari 2-14 in four, Asif Raza 2-15 in three and Suleman 2-18 in 16 deliveries. Naved’s contribution was 1-17 in three overs. The only Rhinos batsman to reach the 20s was middle-order player Usman Khan, whose 23 came off 21 balls with a solitary four.

Man of the Match Ashfaq Ahmed gave a characteristic display of batting for Lahore, with his 31 coming off just 25 balls with two fours and three sixes. He now has a T20 career strike-rate of a whopping 175.21 runs per 100 balls.

With opener Asif Khan (28 off 18 balls with four fours and a six), Ashfaq gave the Eagles an opening start of an exact 50. Azhar Ali then hit a run-a-ball 22, with a four and a six, and remained unbeaten. Scores: Abbottabad Rhinos 87 in 15.4 overs (Usman Malik 3-22). Lahore Eagles 88-2 in 12.5 overs (Ashfaq Ahmed 31).