Babar’s all-round show for Whites

Published November 26, 2002

LAHORE, Nov 25: An all-round performance by Babar Naeem and fine batting by Imran Farhat enabled PCB Blues score a consolation eight-wicket win against PCB Reds in the last league  match of the Super League One-day Ramazan Cup Cricket Tournament at Gaddafi Stadium Monday.

It was PCB Blues’ second win in six matches.

For PCB Reds, who had already qualified for Thursday’s final against PCB Whites, it was their second defeat in 24 hours, having lost to PCB Whites Sunday.

Set a challenging target of 259, PCB Blues made a flying start of as openers Babar Naeem and Imran Farhat put on 162. In the end, PCB Blues needed just 40.2 overs to finish the match.

Babar, who also claimed three for 30, was adjudged Man-of-the-Match award, as he clobbered nine fours and three sixes in 97-ball 96. Imran’s 74-ball blitz contained seven boundaries and three sixes. Babar besides Rs 5,000 also shared Rs 2,000 equally with Imran for hitting most number of sixes.

After both Babar and Imran had perished, Salman Butt enjoyed himself with a blistering unbeaten run-a-ball 58, laced with nine boundaries.

Earlier, PCB Reds also made an impressive start through Sufian Munir (90 off 105 balls, 12 fours) and Mohammad Hafeez  (49 off 80 balls, three fours) who put on 134 for the opening partnership. Sufian pocketed Rs 2,000 for hitting most number of boundaries.

Leg-spinner Abdul Rehman returned fine figures of four for 50.

Scoreboard

PCB REDS:

Mohammad Hafeez c Adnan b Rehman 49

Sufian Munir lbw b Rehman 90

Imran Nazir c sub (Asim) b Rehman 10

Saeed bin Nasir c and b Naveed 32

Yasir Arafat c Salman b Babar 38

Junaid Zia b Naveed 0

Naumanullah c Adnan b Babar 3

Afaq Raheem c Sajid b Rehman 7

Hafiz Khalid not out 12

Tanvir Ahmed c Bilal b Babar 1

Jalat Khan not out 0

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2, W-3, NB-7) 16

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 258

FALL OF WKTS: 1-134, 2-152, 3-159, 4-205, 5-206, 6-225, 7-238, 8-251, 9-256.

BOWLING: Umar Gul 7-0-44-0; Sajid Shah 10-0-33-0; Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan 8-1-48-2; Salman Qadir 8-0-32-0; Abdul Rehman 10-0-50-4; Imran Farhat 2-0-15-0; Babar Naeem 5-0-30-3.

PCB BLUES:

Babar Naeem c Junaid b Tanvir 96

Imran Farhat lbw b Hafeez 85

Salman Butt not out 58

Bilal Asad not out 9

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-8, NB-2) 11

TOTAL (for two wkts, 40.2 overs) 259

FALL OF WKTS: 1-162, 2-210.

DID NOT BAT: Usman Tariq, Salman Qadir, Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan, Abdul Rehman, Sajid Shah, Adnan Akmal, Umar Gul.

BOWLING: Tanvir Ahmed 7-0-45-1; Yasir Arafat 7-1-35-0; Junaid Zia 7-0-43-0; Mohammad Hafeez 6-0-27-1; Jalat Khan 4-0-52-0; Imran Nazir 6-0-37-0; Naumanullah 3.2-0-19-0.

RESULT: PCB Blues won by eight wickets.

UMPIRES: Riazuddin and Aleem Dar.

MATCH REFEREE: Anwar Khan.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Babar Naeem.

FINAL: PCB Reds v PCB Whites, Thursday.

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