August 28, 2008	Thursday	Sha'aban 25, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 27: Karachi and Lahore had a mixed opening day in the National Under-19 Regional One-day Cricket Tournament which officially marked the start of the 2008-09 domestic season on Wednesday.

While Karachi Blues and Lahore Ravi won their opening fixtures, Karachi Whites and Lahore Shalimar lost to Islamabad and Quetta, respectively. Also winning their first-round matches were Hyderabad and Sialkot.

Karachi Blues scored a narrow 12-run win over last season’s runners-up Rawalpindi in a Pool ‘B’ tie here at the Asghar Ali Stadium. In the same pool, Hyderabad launched their campaign with a comfortable 92-run success against Faisalabad in their own backyard at the Niaz Stadium.

Lahore Shalimar had no answers to a hostile burst of pace bowling by Quetta’s Naik Mohammad as they suffered a four-wicket defeat. Naik claimed six for 36.

Sialkot, the last season’s champions, easily defeated Abbottabad by 105 runs in a Pool ‘A’ game. The other two matches in this pool provided thrilling finishes with Islamabad and Lahore Ravi emerging winners by just one wicket each.The three-day segment begins from Friday with first-round matches involving the same teams who played on Wednesday.

Summarised scores:

At Asghar Ali Shah Stadium, Karachi: Karachi Blues beat Rawalpindi by 12 runs.

KARACHI BLUES 235-7 in 50 overs (Shahzeb Hasan 58, Mohammad Waqas 45, Ammar Hasan 42); RAWALPINDI 223-6 in 50 overs (Hammad Azam 58, Jamal Anwar 47 not out; Shahzeb Khan 2-42).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: Hyderabad beat Faisalabad by 92 runs.

HYDERABAD 269-5 in 50 overs (Mohammad Awais 56 not out, Noor Din 53,

Sharafat Ali 44 not out, Bilal Irshad 43; Hamza Zaheer 2-51); FAISALABAD 177 in 40.5 overs (Wasif Ali 81 not out; Azeem Ghumman 4-20, Mudassar Manzoor 2-17, Shoaib Awan 2-23).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Islamabad beat Karachi Whites by one wicket.

KARACHI WHITES 219-8 in 50 overs (Rameez Aziz 55; Ghulam Murtaza 3-46, Kashif Ali 2-56); ISLAMABAD 220-9 in 50 overs (Sabahat Rizvi 71 not out, Nauman Masood 40; Zakir Afridi 2-47, Khalid Mahmood 2-49).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium: Sialkot beat Abbottabad by 107 runs.

SIALKOT 237-8 in 50 overs (Abdul Rauf 89; Irfan Khan 3-59); ABBOTTABAD 132 in 42.1 overs (Rehan Afridi 59; Ayaz Tasawwar 4-33, Adil Raza 3-14, Raza Hasan 2-18).

At Bugti Stadium, Quetta: Quetta beat Lahore Shalimar by four wickets.

LAHORE SHALIMAR 182 in 50 overs (Waqas Tariq 44; Naik Mohammad 6-36, Faizullah 2-21); QUETTA 184-6 in 44.2 overs (Bismillah Khan 69; Tehzeeb Raza 4-36).

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: Lahore Ravi won by one wicket.

PESHAWAR 179-8 in 50 overs (Adil Amin 105; Sagheer Ahmed 3-34, Azhar Attari 2-26, Qaiser Ashraf 2-28); LAHORE RAVI 180-9 in 46.5 overs (Irfan Zaman 41; Jibran Khan 5-19).