March 09, 2008	Sunday	Safar 30, 1429

ISLAMABAD, March 8: Federal Areas surged to the top of the Pentangular Cup standings with a remarkable one-wicket win against Sindh in the last over here on Saturday at the Diamond Cricket Club.

Shahzad Azam, the number eleven from FA, hit two successive fours off Danish Kaneria to bring a nail-biting victory for the hosts in the last over of the day.

Earlier, Faisal Iqbal struck a superb 105 off 211 balls supported by fine half-centuries from Khalid Latif and Rizwan Ahmed to help Sindh gain a huge 322-run lead as the visitors declared their innings at 394-4.

FA, requiring 322 for victory, went for the run chase from the word go led by opener Umair Khan who hit a magnificent 106 with fellow opener Raheel Majeed (52) giving him able support from the other end.

Skipper Shahid Afridi stood out in Sindh’s bowling attack, unleashing his spin magic with an innings haul of 5-55. But the Federal Areas batsmen looked determined for a victory, which they achieved in the last over of the day for the loss of nine wickets.

Some fine middle-order batting from Bazid Khan (45) and Usman Saeed (41 not out) brought the hosts on the verge of the unlikely win and Shahzad Azam (12 not out) compeleted the job by hitting Kaneria for two boundaries in the last over to seal the fate of the tie.

Later, talking to Dawn, Jalaluddin, Sindh team’s coach, said that both the teams played a superb game but his side lost due to some poor fielding which gave FA a chance to win. The Sindh players dropped as many as five catches on the last day.

Scoreboard

SINDH (1st Innings) 222 (Shahid Afridi 70, Naumanullah 53; Sohail Tanvir 5-58).

FEDERAL AREAS (1st Innings) 295 (Ashar Zaidi 87 not out, Raheel Majeed 72; Sohail Khan 5-56).

SINDH (2nd Innings, overnight 345-3):

Khurram Manzoor c Umair b Shahzad 73

Khalid Latif lbw b Saeed Ajmal 74

Naumanullah c Usman Saeed b Shahzad 43

Faisal Iqbal not out 105

Rizwan Ahmed c Usman Saeed b Sohail 71

Sarfraz Ahmed not out 18

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-2, W-7) 10

TOTAL (for four decl, 94.1 overs) 394

FALL OF WKTS: 1-119, 2-191, 3-203, 4-347.

BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir 27.1-3-127-1 (5w); Yasir Arafat 23-2-103-0 (1w); Shahzad Azam 15-2-72-2 (1w); Saeed Ajmal 22-3-61-1; Raheel Majeed 7-1-28-0.

FEDERAL AREAS (2nd Innings):

Raheel Majeed c sub b Afridi 52

Umair Khan c and b Afridi 106

Sohail Tanvir b Kaneria 1

Bazid Khan b Kaneria 45

Ashar Zaidi c Sarfraz b Nauman 20

Naveed Qureshi c Rizwan b Sohail 14

Usman Saeed not out 41

Yasir Arafat c Anwar b Afridi 0

Naeem Anjum lbw b Afridi 25

Saeed Ajmal lbw b Afridi 0

Shahzad Azam not out 12

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

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 83.5 overs) 322

FALL OF WKTS: 1-84, 2-85, 3-174, 4-203, 5-224, 6-262, 7-262, 8-309, 9-309.

BOWLING: Sohail Khan 11-0-47-1; Danish Kaneria 36.5-1-157-2; Anwar Ali Khan 3-0-15-0 (1nb); Shahid Afridi 21-5-55-5; Rizwan Ahmed 7-0-24-0; Naumanullah 5-1-19-1.

RESULT: Federal Areas won by one wicket.

UMPIRES: Ahmed Shahab and Ahsan Raza.

MATCH REFEREE: Ishtiaq Ahmed.

OFFICIAL SCORER: Shakeel Ahmed.