12 June 2004	Saturday	23 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

ISLAMABAD, June 11: Majid Saeed stroked a brisk century as Gujranwala made it into the semifinals of the NBP-ICA Inter-district Super Cup cricket tournament with a 15-run defeat of Rawalpindi at the F-9 Park ground on Friday.

Another batsman in supreme touch was Bazid Khan, who scored his second century of the tournament. Helped by Majid's 89-ball 112 in which he smashed 18 fours and a six, Gujranwala were able to collect 272 in 49.1 overs.

Rawalpindi's Jawwad Hameed bowled well to pick up three wickets for 38 runs while Ajmal Khattak and Usman Saeed had two each. In reply, Rawalpindi were dismissed for 257 in 48.5 overs, Usman Saeed's knock of 68 proving of no use. The other notable scorer was Adnan Naveed with 49 runs.

Mohammad Nadeem inflicted most of the damage on Rawalpindi snaring four for 47. Majid and Shahzad Ahmed shared four wickets. At the Shalimar ground not far away, Karachi found Bazid Khan too hot to handle as he hammered an unconquered 120 in Islamabad White's convincing nine-wicket victory.

Karachi scored 250 with major contributions from Khalid Latif (59) and Atif Ali Zaidi (51). They were kept in check by some good bowling by Rao Iftikhar who took two for 29. But Bazid was even more impressive and had two scalps for only 10 runs. Adil Hanif also claimed two but gave away 47 runs for those wickets.

Bazid, who has been in cracking form with the bat in this elite tournament, showed champion pedigree in striking 16 sizzling boundaries and a six. At the other end, Farrukh Hayat did well too hitting up 98 but just when a 10-wicket defeat was staring Karachi in the face, he was run out. His innings was laced with 10 fours.

SUMMARISED SCORES:

At F-9 Park Ground: Gujranwala beat Rawalpindi by 15 runs.

GUJRANWALA 272 in 49.1 overs (Majid Saeed 112, Zubair Wattoo 36; Jawwad Hameed 3-38, Ajmal Khattak 2-33, Usman Saeed 2-43);

RAWALPINDI 257 in 48.5 overs (Usman Saeed 68, Adnan Naveed 49, Manzoor Ali 35; Mohammad Nadeem 4-47, Majid Saeed 2-54, Shahzad Ahmed 2-40).

At Shalimar Ground: Islamabad Whites beat Karachi by nine wickets.

KARACHI 250 in 49.1 overs (Khalid Latif 59, Atif Ali Zaidi 51, Mansoor Baig 40; Rao Iftikhar 2-29, Bazid Khan 2-10, Adil Hanif 2-47);

ISLAMABAD 251-1 in 40.4 overs (Bazid Khan 120 not out, Farrukh Hayat 98).

At Marghazar Ground: Lahore beat Islamabad Blues by six wickets.

ISLAMABAD 235-9 in 50 overs (Umair Khan 54, Qadeer Khan 39, Sajid Ali 25; Kashif Naveed 2-41, Sajid Aziz 2-29);

LAHORE 236-4 in 39.3 overs (Rashid Riaz 48, Salman Butt 47, Rizwan Ahmed 44 not out, Imran Farhat 39; Safdar Niazi 2-10).