February 16, 2008	Saturday	Safar 08, 1429

KARACHI, Feb 15: Opener Babar Naeem smashed a big hundred and Usman Qadir bagged five wickets as Lahore overwhelmed Karachi by 72 runs to storm into the Inter-region Under-16 Cricket Championship final at the National Stadium on Thursday.

The right-handed Babar clubbed 18 boundaries and five sixes in his 149-ball knock and fellow opener Omar Siddiqui got 50 off 46 balls with six fours and a six to power Lahore to 286 for three in the allotted 40 overs.

Babar added 118 with Omar before recording a 100-run stand for the fourth wicket with Hasib-ur-Rehman who made 29 not out including two fours and a six.

Karachi, after reaching 126 for two at one stage, crumbled with leg-spinner Usman Qadir getting into action. Ahsan Ali hit an enterprising 71 off 58 balls laced with 11 hits to the boundary and a six.

The 14-year-old Usman, son of former Test leg-spinner Abdul Qadir, picked five wickets for 37 in his eight overs as Karachi were dismissed for 214 in 37.3 overs.

Summarised scores:

LAHORE 286-3 in 40 overs (Babar Naeem 165 not out, Omar Siddiqui 50, Hasib-ur-Rehman 29 not out); KARACHI 214 in 37.3 overs (Ahsan Ali 71, Mohammad Shahbaz 28, Abdullah Shah 27; Usman Qadir 5-37).—APP