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| December 18, 2003 | Thursday | Shawwal 23, 1424 |
KRL scent victory against PIA
KARACHI, Dec 17: Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) were on course for their first victory in the Patron’s Trophy after being set a modest target of 129 by PIA at UBL Sports Complex on Wednesday.
By stumps on the penultimate day of the four-day Pool ‘A’ fixture, KRL already had made 33 of those runs for the loss of two wickets. Barring anything sensational on the last day, KRL should be able to score the remaining 96 runs.
PIA, who won two titles last season, never looked like making a big total in their second innings. The last nine wickets on Wednesday yielded a moderate 218, having resumed at 68 for one.
Saeed Ajmal, the 26-year-old Faisalabad-born off-spinner, bowled to a teasing line and length and hardly allowed the PIA batsmen to settle down during his marathon unchanged spell of 36 overs from the Pavilion End.
It was only during the last few overs that Saeed came in for some stick against a rampant Zahid Fazal who lashed three sixes, twice lifting the ball straight over the sightscreens.
Zahid, the 30-year-old former Test batsman, batted superbly for his 112-ball 68. One stroke was truly amazing when he flat-batted the gentle medium-pace of KRL captain Ali Naqvi straight past the startled bowler for a six. The right-hander also struck five fours.
Zahid’s dismissal at 284 triggered a total collapse with the last four wickets going down for the addition of only two runs. Paceman Mohammad Asif, for the second time in the game, came up with a magic burst. He claimed three wickets in seven balls.
Saqlain Mushtaq (11), who added 57 for the seventh wicket with Zahid, looked unhappy at being adjudged lbw by umpire Afzaal Ahmed. The aggrieved batsman kept glancing at the official as he walked towards the dressing room.
Earlier, apart from Ghulam Ali (56) and Mahmood Hamid (49), who shared a second-wicket stand of 69, nobody else managed to produce a big knock which would have enabled PIA to set KRL a challenging run-chase.
Scoreboard
PIA (1st Innings) 127 (Mahmood Hamid 66; Mohammad Asif 4-67).
KRL (1st Innings) 285 (Intikhab Alam 60; Asif Mujtaba 5-34, Saqlain Mushtaq 4-77).
PIA (2nd Innings, overnight 68-1):
Kamran Sajid c Zulfiqar b Saeed Ajmal 20
Ghulam Ali c Ali b Yasir 56
Mahmood Hamid c Ali b Saeed Ajmal 49
Bazid Khan c Asif b Saeed Ajmal 37
Asif Mujtaba c Ramzan b Saeed Ajmal 30
Zahid Fazal c Faisal b Asif 68
Ahmed Zeeshan Malik lbw b Ali 4
Saqlain Mushtaq lbw b Asif 11
Aizaz bin Ilyas c Zulfiqar b Asif 0
Ali Gohar not out 0
Fazle Akbar lbw b Yasir 1
EXTRAS (B-5, LB-2, NB-3) 10
TOTAL (all out, 107.1 overs) 286
FALL OF WKTS: 1-45, 2-114, 3-144, 4-175, 5-222, 6-227, 7-284, 8-284, 9-285.
BOWLING: Mohammad Asif 21-7-41-3; Yasir Arafat 23.1-6-65-2 (1nb); Faisal Afridi 9-0-28-0; Saeed Anwar Jr 1-0-10-0; Saeed Ajmal 43-13-112-4; Ali Naqvi 10-2-23-1 (2nb).
KRL (2nd Innings):
Ali Naqvi lbw b Ali Gohar 2
Saeed Anwar Jr not out 9
M. Asif c Ahmed Zeeshan b Aizaz 0
Asif Mahmood not out 21
EXTRAS (NB-1) 1
TOTAL (for two wkts, 9 overs) 33
FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-3.
BOWLING (to-date): Ali Gohar 3-1-5-1 (1nb); Aizaz bin Ilyas 3-0-10-1; Asif Mujtaba 2-0-7-0; Saqlain Mushtaq 1-0-11-0.
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