KARACHI: Balochistan stunned Sindh by a huge margin of 107 runs in the opening fixture of the PCB Taqreebat-e-Azadi Twenty20 Cup as top-class cricket returned to Quetta after a lapse of six years on Wednesday.

Sindh, missing their appointed skipper Shahid Afridi who was conspicuously absence, capitulated for a measly 110 after Balochistan had rattled up a healthy total of 217-4 after skipper Rameez Raja opted to bat first at the Bugti Stadium.

Barring Faisal Iqbal, who is sadly out-of-favour with the national selectors, no other Sindh batsman could bat for a length of time.

Faisal scored 30 with his 24-ball knock laced with six boundaries.

Stand-in Sindh captain Fawad Alam contributed run-a-ball 16, while opener Sharjeel Khan (17 off 14 balls, three fours) and Ahsan Ali (11 off six balls, one six and one four) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures.

Former Pakistan U-19 all-rounder Zafar Gohar grabbed four wickets for 19 runs with his slow left-armers with two wickets each taken by medium-pacers Gohar Faiz and Aamir Yamin.

In sharp contrast to Sindh’s abject batting show, Balochistan put up a dazzling performance. Openers Sami Aslam and Bismillah Khan began with a partnership of 95.

Sami, the current Pakistan Under-19 skipper, hit four sixes and three fours in scoring 46 off only 26 deliveries. Wicket-keeper Bismillah hammered a 37-ball 60 with nine boundaries — an effort that won him the man-of-the-match award.

Rameez himself bludgeoned three sixes and one four in making a 17-ball 31, while upcoming left-hander Umar Siddique remained undefeated with 63 in a 42-ball innings adorned with five fours and four sixes.

Discarded Test fast bowler Mohammad Sami proved very expensive as his three overs yielded 43 runs. Off-spinner Atif Maqbool took 2-30 and leg-spinner Shahzaib Ahmed Khan 2-39.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa host Punjab in the second match of the competition in Peshawar on Friday.

Meanwhile, according to sources the players who are being given five-star accommodation by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are reportedly not getting any daily allowance from the board for the duration of the event which is being organised on the directive of the prime minister as part of Independence Day celebrations.

In the prevailing circumstances a number of cricketers are forced to seek food at spots where prices are considerably lower than those available at the five-star hotel.

A player, speaking to Dawn on condition of anonymity, complained that the PCB had not bothered to pay attention to the basic needs of the players and officials while planning for this tournament.

“This is another example of how the cricket board is functioning. The officials seldom care little about facilitating the players when organising an event such as this. Merely putting them [players] at five-star hotel is just not enough,” he said.

“How are we supposed to survive when there is no provision for daily allowances? A majority of us are not on the board’s central contract list and so we simply can’t afford to pay for food if we opt to eat at the team’s hotel.”

Scoreboard

BALOCHISTAN:

Sami Aslam b Atif 46 Bismillah Khan c Sami b Shahzaib 60 Rameez Raja c Sami b Atif 31 Umar Siddique not out 63 Gohar Faiz c Khalid b Shahzaib 0 EXTRAS (LB-8, W-3, NB-6) 17 TOTAL (for four wkts, 20.0 overs) 217 FALL OF WKTS: 1-95, 2-157, 3-217, 4-217 DID NOT BAT: Faisal Mubashir, Zafar Gohar, Aamir Yamin, Ghulam Mohammad, Ataullah, Asad Ali.

BOWLING: Azam Hussain 4-0-40-0; Mohammad Sami 3-0-43-0 (3nb); Sohail Khan 4-0-36-0; Atif Maqbool 4-0-30-2 (1w); Fawad Alam1-0-21-0; Shahzaib Ahmed Khan 4-0-39-2.

SINDH:

Sharjeel Khan c Bismillah b Aamir 17 Khalid Latif c Bismillah b Ataullah 0 Ahsan Ali b Asad 11 Faisal Iqbal b Aamir 30 Fawad Alam b Gohar 16 Mohammad Sami c Asad b Zafar 3 Mohammad Hasan not out 9 Sohail Khan c Faisal Mubashir b Gohar 0 Atif Maqbool c Rameez b Zafar 0 Azam Hussain b Zafar 7 Shahzaib Ahmed Khan b Zafar 8 EXTRAS (LB-3, W-2, NB-4) 9 TOTAL (all out, 15.5 overs) 110 FALL OF WKTS: 1-13, 2-26, 3-40, 4-75, 5-81, 6-85, 7-85, 8-85, 9-102.

BOWLING: Asad Ali 2-0-20-1 (2w); Ataullah 2-0-20-1 (2nb); Aamir Yamin 3-0-23-2; Gohar Faiz 3-0-16- 2; Ghulam Mohammad 2-0-9-0; Zafar Gohar 3.5-0-19-4.

RESULT: Balochistan won by 107 runs.

UMPIRES: Aslam Bareach and Abdul Karim.

TV UMPIRE: Sultan Mahmood

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Bismillah Khan.

NEXT MATCH: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Punjab (Peshawar on Friday).

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2014