KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited (HBL) seized early control of the Silver League final in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship on Wednesday when State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) folded up for a disappointing 162 on the opening day of the five-day fixture in Faisalabad.

By close of play, HBL had collected 88-3 in reply with opener Aftab Khan (28) and night-watchman Abdur Rehman (3) at the crease.

Opting to bat first on a slow track at the Iqbal Stadium after returning SBP skipper Mohammad Naved won the toss was the right call.

But shot selection and lack of discipline in SBP ranks saw them dramatically hand the initiative to HBL who are bidding to qualify for top-tier Gold League competition next season.

At one point, it seemed that SBP would post a decent first-innings total when Aamir Yamin was striking boundaries at will against pacemen Fahad Masood and Sarmad Anwar. The makeshift opener struck 10 fours and one six in his 43-ball 54.

But a tame return catch to slow left-armer Aslam Qureshi with the score on 82 completely changed the scenario. In the space of 21 balls, SBP plunged into despair at 87-4. Their misery was completed almost on the stroke of lunch when part-time spinner Aftab Khan came on to bowl. On the very first delivery, he had Mohtashim Ali edge a simple chance to Hasan Raza at slip.

The next four wickets went down after the interval — which was taken with SBP at 115-5 — for the addition of only 15 runs. Zafar Gohar then made a belated attempt to garner as much runs as he could but after reaching a 26-ball 31 that featured four boundaries and a brace of sixes, the youngster played on to his stumps while trying an ambitious stroke against Aslam.

Aslam ended up three wickets for 22 runs in 10.4 overs while his more experienced team-mate and Pakistan discard Rehman bagged four for 35 in 15 overs with Aftab taking two for 28.

HBL were sharp in the field and Rameez Aziz’s catch at short leg to get rid of Naved Yasin (21) was quite brilliant.

HBL made a cautious start in the afternoon session against Rizwan Haider and Aamir Yamin, who achieved the rare of both opening the batting and bowling in a first-class match.

Skipper Imran Farhat was caught by Zafar off Rizwan for 10 before Aftab and Rameez combined to put on 50 for the second wicket in 89 minutes when the left-handed Rameez was dismissed by Zafar for a 93-ball 28.

Bilal Shafayat made only 10 before he was bowled by Zafar just before an eventful first day concluded.

Scoreboard

STATE BANK (1st Innings):

Mukhtar Ahmed c Humayun b Fahad 2

Aamir Yamin c and b Aslam 54

Naved Yasin c Rameez b Rehman 21

Babar Azam b Rehman 2

Usman Salahuddin b Rehman 14

Mohtashim Ali c Hasan b Aftab 13

Rizwan Haider lbw b Aftab 5

Maqbool Ahmed b Rehman 4

Kashif Bhatti c Imran b Aslam 1

Zafar Gohar b Aslam 31

Mohammad Naved not out 5

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-1, NB-5) 10

TOTAL (all out, 40.4 overs) 162

FALL OF WKTS: 1-10, 2-82, 3-84, 4-87, 5-115, 6-120, 7-125, 8-126, 9-130.

BOWLING: Fahad Masood 7-1-37-1 (1nb); Sarmad Anwar 3-0-20-0 (4nb); Kamran Hussain 1-0-15-0; Abdur Rehman 15-3-35-4; Aslam Qureshi 10.4-3-22-3; Aftab Khan 4-0-28-2.

HABIB BANK (1st Innings):

Imran Farhat c Zafar b Rizwan 10

Aftab Khan not out 28

Rameez Aziz c Mohtashim b Zafar 28

Bilal Shafayat b Zafar 10

Abdur Rehman not out 3

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-1, NB-3) 9

TOTAL (for three wkts, 46 overs) 88

FALL OF WKTS: 1-21, 2-71, 3-81.

TO BAT: Hasan Raza, Kamran Hussain, Humayun Farhat, Sarmad Anwar, Fahad Masood, Aslam Qureshi.

BOWLING (to-date): Rizwan Haider 7-4-7-1; Aamir Yamin 2-1-7-0 (1nb); Zafar Gohar 19-7-35-2; Kashif Bhatti 12-6-18-0; Mohammad Naved 4-1-8-0 (1w); Babar Azam 2-0-8-0.

UMPIRES: Riazuddin and Mohammad Asif.

TV UMPIRE: Javed Ashraf.

MATCH REFEREE: Musaddeq Rasool Khan.

Published in Dawn December 4th , 2014