July 05, 2007	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 19, 1428

KARACHI, July 4: Leaders Zone-V took another step towards winning the Karachi region title of the PCB Inter-district Under-19 Cricket Championship after piling up 315 against Zone-III at the Landhi Gymkhana Ground here on Wednesday.

By stumps on the first day of the two-day fixture, Zone-III, who are rooted to the bottom in the seven-team standings, were 33 for one.

After being sent into bat, Zone-V were well served by Sohail Khan who scored 79 off 100 balls with 10 boundaries. Fellow opener Mohammad Waqas struck a 54-ball 45, including seven fours and one six, while all-rounder Osama Basharat remained unbeaten on 61. Osama’s 80-ball knock contained seven fours and one six.

Off-spinner Shoaib Ali claimed four for 97.

Zone-I, who have the same number of points as Zone-V (14 each) but are second because of an inferior net run-rate, dominated their game against Zone-VII at the Student Sports Ground.

Slow left-armer Amjad Manzoor grabbed six for 87 as Zone-VII were dismissed for 229 despite a run-a-ball 50 by Farhan Channa.

Zone-I closed at 72 for two.

In the remaining fixture, third-placed Zone-IV mustered 194 for nine in the allotted 90 overs at the TMC Ground. M. Shoaib Shakeel, however, excelled with a patient 82. His 205-ball vigil included five hits to the fence.

Sohaib Khan, the slow left-armer, chipped in with good figures of four for 49 in 30 overs.

Zone-VI ended the day at 39 for one.

Summarised scores:

At Landhi Gymkhana Ground:

ZONE-V 315 in 72.3 overs (Sohail Khan 79, Osama Basharat 61 not out, Mohammad Waqas 45, Rashid Nawaz 35, Wajidullah 26, Mohammad Zohaib 24; Shoaib Ali 4-79, Jibran Yousuf 2-28, Akhtar Fahim 2-46); ZONE-III 33-1 in 14 overs.

At Student Sports Ground:

ZONE-VII 229 in 66.1 overs (Farhan Channa 50, Hassan Qasim 40, Ali Mudassar 32, Mirza Farhad Baig 21; Amjad Manzoor 6-87, Ehsan Afridi 2-38, Tabish Nawab 2-72); ZONE-I 72-2 in 22 overs (Hamza-ul-Hasan 32 not out, Sajid Khan 29).

At TMC Ground:

ZONE-IV 194-9 in 90 overs (M. Shoaib Shakeel 82, Salman Ahmed 31; Sohaib Khan 4-49, Junaid Ilyas 2-49); ZONE-VI 39-1 in 11 overs (Zakir Afridi 22 not out).