Shaheen Shah Afridi takes hat-trick in National Champions Cup final

MULTAN: Pakistan Gold captain Shaheen Shah Afridi dismantled Pakistan Greens with a hat-trick in the National Champions Cup 2026 final here at the Multan Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Shaheen achieved the milestone in the 38th over of the Greens' run chase when he dismissed Mehran Mumtaz, Salman Mirza and Mohammad Hasnain in successive deliveries.

The left-arm pacer dismissed Mumtaz on the first delivery of the aforementioned over, trapping him lbw with a pacy in-dipper, before outfoxing Mirza with a slower delivery, which resulted in him lobbing the ball for a simple catch to the bowler.

Shaheen completed his hat-trick by bowling a toe-crushing yorker to Hasnain, who failed to keep track of the ball, which thudded into his leg stump.

The hat-trick rounded up Shaheen's sensational bowling performance in the National Champions Cup 2026 final as he finished with magnificent figures of 7/36 in 8.3 overs, which eventually earned him the Player of the Match.

Shaheen's brilliance was backed by Mubasir Khan, Faisal Akram and fellow pacer Razaullah, helping Gold bowl out the Greens for a modest 239 in 37.3 overs.

Earlier, centuries from Shamyl Hussain and Saad Khan propelled Gold to a mammoth total of 340 all out in their 50 overs after Shaheen won the toss and opted to bat first.

Middle-order batter Saad remained the top-scorer for the Gold in the National Champions Cup 2026 final with a brisk 112 off 102 deliveries, studded with 11 fours and four sixes. He was closely followed by Hussain, who made a 93-ball 11, comprising as many boundaries.

Besides them, opener Muhammad Akhlaq (31) and the middle-order duo of Abdul Samad (25) and Mubasir Khan (21) made notable contributions to the Gold's total in the summit clash.