March 16, 2006	Thursday	Safar 15, 1427

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KARACHI, March 15: Opener Atiqur Rahman stroked a match-winning century to keep Sialkot Stallions in contention for the final of the National One-day Regional Gold League cricket championship on Wednesday.

Atiq struck 114 to help Stallions beat Peshawar Panthers by five wickets despite the first-ball dismissal of skipper Imran Nazir at the National Stadium.

Atiq, who adorned his 136-ball innings with 13 fours and one six, shared a third-wicket partnership of 93 with Shahid Yousuf (49 off 70 balls with four fours) as the Stallions reached their target of 247 in the 48th over.

After being asked to bat first, the Panthers overcame a hesitant start to put up a fighting 246.

Janisar Khan (51 off 87 balls with eight fours), Wajahatullah Wasti (43 off 60 balls) and Akhtar Sarfraz (an unbeaten 52 off 56 balls with four fours) were the chief run-getters.

Although proving very expensive, Mansoor Amjad, the Stallions leg-spinner, returned figures of four for 66 in 8.3 overs.

Scoreboard

PESHAWAR PANTHERS:

Yasir Hameed c Imran b Nadeem 8

Mohammad Fayyaz c Kamran b Nadeem 20

Janisar Khan b Imran 51

Riffatullah Mohmand c Hafiz b Tahir 12

Wajahatullah Wasti c and b Mansoor 43

Zulfiqar Jan c Hafiz b Mansoor 4

Akhtar Sarfraz not out 52

Arshad Khan c Bilal b Mansoor 4

Aslam Qureshi b Tahir 5

Waqar Ahmed run out 0

Fazle Akbar b Mansoor 26

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-3, W-12, NB-2) 21

TOTAL (all out, 48.3 overs) 246

FALL OF WKTS: 1-19, 2-48, 3-75, 4-119, 5-134, 6-167, 7-175, 8-197, 9-198.

BOWLING: Sarfraz Ahmed 10-0-40-0 (1w); Nadeem Javed 10-0-52-2 (1nb, 2w); Tahir Mughal 10-0-37-2; Kamran Younis 9-0-41-0 (1w); Imran Nazir 1-0-3-1; Mansoor Amjad 8.3-0-66-4 (1nb, 4w).

SIALKOT STALLIONS:

Imran Nazir c Zulfiqar b Fazle 0

Atiqur Rahman lbw b Janisar 114

Bilal Hussain run out 25

Shahid Yousuf c Arshad b Aslam 49

Shahzad Malik run out 13

Mansoor Amjad not out 27

Hafiz Khalid not out 0

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-9, W-4, NB-1) 19

TOTAL (for five wkts, 47.1 overs) 247

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-51, 3-142, 4-183, 5-242.

DID NOT BAT: Tahir Mughal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Kamran Younis, Nadeem Javed.

BOWLING: Fazle Akbar 8.1-0-39-1 (1nb, 1w); Waqar Ahmed 10-0-55-0; Janisar Khan 9-0-44-1 (2w); Aslam Qureshi 9-0-39-1; Arshad Khan 7-0-37-0; Mohammad Fayyaz 2-0-9-0 (1w); Wajahatullah Wasti 2-1-10-0

UMPIRES: Afzaal Ahmed and Rasheed Bhatti.

MATCH REFEREE: Anwer Khan.