KARACHI: Wapda romped to their second innings victory in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship Gold League event when they whipped Peshawar Panthers by an innings and 99 runs well under three days in Peshawar on Monday.

The Panthers, who resumed their second innings at 64-8, lasted just seven deliveries on the penultimate morning of the four-day fixture and were all out for a pitiable 70 at the Arbab Niaz Stadium. Paceman Mohammad Ali Bhutta and Waqas Maqsood matched their four-wicket feats in the first innings to finish with match bags of 8-52 and 8-63, respectively.

Wapda now have 20 points from their opening two matches.

ZTBL also sealed a three-day success as they crushed Lahore Lions by innings and 25 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Pakistan pace-bowling all-rounder Sohail Khan, who began the day on 93, slammed a career-best 163 — usurping 132 he scored for Federal Areas against Balochistan in the Pentangular Cup at the National Stadium in February 2008 — as ZTBL collected 431 all out. The 29-year-old left-hander struck 20 fours and seven sixes during his 161-ball knock and put on 120 for seventh-wicket with Shakeel Ansar (35).

The Lions, starting their second innings with a deficit of 205, then succumbed to the spin of ZTBL skipper Shoaib Malik and Zohaib Khan, both returning identical figures of 4-49, and were sent packing under 60 overs for 180 despite captain Saad Nasim making 60 (85 balls, five fours and three sixes).

Islamabad Leopards, inspired by captain Imad Wasim’s unbeaten 75 (167 balls, 10 boundaries) sealed a heart-stopping win by one wicket against United Bank at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital.

Chasing 173, the Leopards resumed at 3-1 before clinching victory in 68.4 overs. Off-spinner Junaid Ilyas stood out for the bankers with a career-best 5-56 in 19 overs and match bag of 9-83 in 34 overs.

Fawad Alam converted his overnight score of 115 into 201as National Bank amassed 444 in reply to Rawalpindi Rams’ 282 at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi. The Pakistan left-hander struck 23 fours and a six during his 227-ball knock in 335 minutes. Wicket-keeper Talha Qureshi excelled with six catches.

Fawad and Hammad Azam added 115 for the sixth wicket before the latter was dismissed by his older brother Haseeb Azam for a 66-ball 60 (eight fours and two sixes).

The Rams, 162 behind on the first innings, then reached 142-4.

Port Qasim Authority (PQA) were in sight of victory as Multan Tigers struggled to 14-2 while chasing 232at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Earlier, PQA failed to cash in on a fine opening stand of 132 between Khurram Manzoor (67) and Shahzaib Hasan (60) as they were all out for 253 in the second innings. Paceman Mohammad Rameez took 5-102.

Leg-spinner Shahzaib Ahmed Khan provided glimpses of his talent by taking his best-ever figures of six for 67 as Karachi Dolphins earned a narrow three-lead over SNGPL on day two of their game at the National Stadium.

Bowling with a lot of guiles, the 23-year-old tormented the SNGPL batsmen with his mixed bag of googlies and leg-spinners throughout his 29-over stint. Even Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal was baffled in an uncharacteristic knock of 42 (58 balls, seven fours). Never looking in full control, the stand-in SNGPL skipper flirted with danger on several occasions before he nicked an Adeel Malik away swinger to wicket-keeper Mohammad Hasan.

SNGPL looked on course of taking lead but four wickets for 10 runs in 29 balls ended their aspirations in the middle period. They were eventually out for 202 before the Dolphins ended the day well placed at 41-0 in the second innings.

Close of play scores and results on Monday (day three of four):

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 324 in 94.5 overs (Umar Amin 103, Faraz Ali 73, Mohammad Salman 40; Majid Ali 4-74, Mohammad Rameez 3-71, Shahbaz Hasan 2-72) and 253 in 64.2 overs (Khurram Manzoor 67, Shahzaib Hasan 60; Mohammad Rameez 5-102, Majid Ali 3-51); MULTAN TIGERS 255 in 75.4 overs (Usman Liaquat 61, Kashif Naved 52; Sohail Khan 4-69, Azam Hussain 4-70, Mohammad Sami 2-42) and 14-2 in 7 overs (Sohail Khan 2-6).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: ZTBL beat Lahore Lions by an innings and 25 runs.

LAHORE LIONS 226 in 88.5 overs (Arsalan Arshad 82, Salman Agha 56; Sohail Tanvir 5-42, Shoaib Malik 2-51) and 180 in 59.5 overs (Saad Nasim 60; Arsalan Arshad 36; Zohaib Khan 4-49); Shoaib Malik 4-49, ZTBL 431 in 108.1 overs (Sohail Tanvir 163, Shoaib Malik 77, Zohaib Khan 60, Shakeel Ansar 35; Mustafa Iqbal 3-97, Bilawal 2-70, Malik Aftab 2-103).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: RAWALPINDI RAMS 282 in 90.4 overs (Shoaib Nasir 55, Naved Malik 53, Usman Saeed 48; Zia-ul-Haq 4-50, Adnan Rasool 3-100, Hammad Azam 2-18) and 147-4 in 48 overs (Shoaib Nasir 78 not out, Zahid Mansoor 50; Zia-ul-Haq 2-24); NATIONAL BANK 444 in 110.1 overs (Fawad Alam 201, Hammad Azam 60; Haseeb Azam 3-75, Yasim Murtaza 2-72, Abid Hussain 2-102, Rizwan Akbar 2-106).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Islamabad Leopards beat United Bank by one wicket.

UNITED BANK 95 in 32.5 overs (Rumman Raees Khan 43 not out; Mudassar Ali 5-24, Hamza Nadeem 2-17, Shehzad Azam Rana 2-48) and 228 in 81.1 overs (Naved Sarwar 81; Hamza Nadeem 5-35, Mudassar Ali 2-53); ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS 151 in 42 overs (Sarmad Bhatti 46 not out, Ali Sarfraz 41; Junaid Ilyas 4-27, Rumman Raees Khan 3-28, Adil Raza 3-58) and 173-9 in 68.4 overs (Imad Wasim 75 not out; Junaid Ilyas 5-56, Adil Raza 2-36).

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: Wapda beat Peshawar Panthers by an innings and 99 runs.

PESHAWAR PANTHERS 109 in 34.2 overs (Mohammad Idrees 51; Mohammad Ali Bhutta 4-29, Waqas Maqsood 4-31, Azhar Attari 2-30) and 70 in 26.4 overs (Mohammad Ali Bhutta 4-23, Waqas Maqsood 3-33, Azhar Attari 2-12); WAPDA 278 in 98.2 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 107, Ayaz Tasawwar 76; Azizullah 5-74, Taj Wali 4-69).

At National Stadium, Karachi (day two): KARACHI DOLPHINS 205 in 73.3 overs (Saad Ali 105; Asad Ali 4-48, Imran Khalid 3-63) and 41-0 in 15 overs (Majid Khan 23 not out); SNGPL 205 in 82.2 overs (Umar Akmal 42, Imran Butt 38; Shahzaib Ahmed Khan 6-67, Adeel Malik 2-35).

Published in Dawn, October 21st , 2014