February 05, 2007	Monday	Muharram 16, 1428

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KARACHI, Feb 4: Karachi Urban stormed to the top of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Gold League competition with a resounding seven-wicket victory over previous leaders Rawalpindi at the National Stadium here on Sunday.

Chasing a target of 110 in 35 overs, Karachi Urban reached their objective with 56 deliveries to spare by scoring 112 for three on the fourth and final day of action. Fittingly, their third win in fourth match was achieved with first-inning batting heroes Hasan Raza and Saeed bin Nasir at the crease.

Skipper Hasan, who excelled in the field with four catches in the second innings, remained unbeaten with 15 while Saeed, the aggressive of the pair, blasted 29 off 30 balls with four fours and one six. The launching pad, however, was provided by opener Agha Sabir. The left-hander struck a 57-ball 44 with the help of six boundaries.

Earlier, Rawalpindi added 201 to their overnight score of 63 for two before folding up for 264 in the second innings. Karachi Urban’s spin twins, Tahir Khan and Azam Hussain, once again tormented the visitors by picking up seven wickets between them on an unresponsive pitch.

Tahir, a promising 26-year-old off-spinner, took his haul to 25 wickets in the championship as he claimed four for 90 in the second innings to return a match haul of nine for 202 in 68 overs.

Azam, the slow left-armer, followed his four for 94 in the first innings with three for 50 and finished with seven for 144 in 49.4 overs.

Rawalpindi’s hopes of salvaging an unlikely draw evaporated when they lost four wickets for the addition of 64 runs. But debutant Awais Zia and upcoming left-handed all-rounder Sohail Tanvir then combined to delay the inevitable in a fighting stand of 121 for the seventh wicket.

Awais contributed a 93-ball 43, which included eight hits to the fence. Sohail dominated the partnership as he bludgeoned 13 fours in making 78 off 93 deliveries in exactly 100 minutes.

Karachi Urban now topped the standings with 24 points while Rawalpindi plunged to third with 21 points in five matches. Sialkot are second with 21 in four games.

Scoreboard

KARACHI URBAN (1st Innings) 506-5 declared (Hasan Raza 108 not out, Saeed bin Nasir 107, Asif Zakir 79, Mohtashim Ali 67, Agha Sabir 58).

RAWALPINDI (1st Innings) 351 (Babar Naeem 182, Mohammad Wasim 58; Tahir Khan 5-112, Azam Hussain 4-94).

RAWALPINDI (2nd Innings, overnight 63-2):

Pervez Aziz c Hasan b Khurram 8

Babar Naeem lbw b Tahir 49

Usman Saeed c Hasan b Tahir 21

Naveed Qureshi b Tahir 9

Mohammad Wasim c Aftab b Ramesh 14

Yasir Arafat lbw b Azam 16

Awais Zia c Aftab b Asif 43

Sohail Tanvir c Hasan b Tahir 78

Sajid Mahmood c Hasan b Azam 3

Najaf Shah not out 4

Akhtar Ayub lbw b Azam 0

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-13, W-1) 19

TOTAL (all out, 80.3 overs) 264

FALL OF WKTS: 1-29, 2-63, 3-75, 4-98, 5-117, 6-127, 7-248, 9-260.

BOWLING: Rajesh Ramesh 8-2-22-1; Malik Aftab 11-1-42-0 (1w); Khurram Manzoor 6-2-14-1; Azam Hussain 18.3-4-50-3; Tahir Khan 30-8-90-4; Hasan Raza 4-1-23-0; Asif Zakir 3-2-5-1.

KARACHI URBAN (2nd Innings):

Agha Sabir b Babar 44

Khurram Manzoor b Babar 16

Asif Zakir b Sohail 2

Hasan Raza not out 15

Saeed bin Nasir not out 29

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, W-1) 6

TOTAL (for three wkts, 25.4 overs) 112

FALL OF WKTS: 1-50, 2-65, 3-69.

BOWLING: Yasir Arafat 5-0-23-0; Najaf Shah 6-0-14-0 (1w); Sohail Tanvir 7.4-0-42-1; Babar Naeem 7-1-28-2.

RESULT: Karachi Urban won by seven wickets.

UMPIRES: Mian Aslam and M. Akbar Khan.

MATCH REFEREE: Anwar Khan.

OFFICIAL SCORER: Muhammad Ahsan.