KARACHI: Batting in contrasting styles, skipper Kamran Akmal and Sami Aslam struck superb centuries as National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) staged a fine fightback against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) in the Gold League final of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship here on Thursday.

After being at the receiving end for the past three days, NBP’s belated rearguard action on the penultimate day of the title-decider at the National Stadium has raised faint hopes of a fascinating last day on Friday.

By close of play, the bankers, who began their second innings with a massive 301-run deficit, had recovered from a shaky 71 for three just after lunch to 275-3. However, despite their tremendous comeback, NBP still trail by 26 runs and an outright defeat looming large on their faces, although a draw would be more than sufficient for SNGPL to add yet another silverware to their impressive haul of national titles.

Sami, the ex-Pakistan Under-19 captain batted the entire day to record his fifth hundred in his 21st first-class appearance on the last ball of the evening. The 19-year-old left-handed opening batsman reached exactly 100 off 288 deliveries in 374 minutes with the aid of 14 fours.

Kamran reminded the national selectors that he could be a contender for inclusion in the 15-man squad that Pakistan will pick by the ICC designated Jan 7 deadline for the World Cup being co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from Feb 14.

KAMRAN Akmal (L) and Sami Aslam blunt SNGPL in double century stand.

The wicket-keeper/batsman scored a timely 131 the 32-year-old’s third ton of the season and 22nd in first-class cricket — in a typically entertaining 155-ball innings that featured 20 boundaries. Dominating the unbroken partnership of 204 with young Sami, Kamran took the attack to the SNGPL bowlers.

On a pitch that has written runs all over it, it was a tiring day for SNGPL. They were further handicapped when paceman Asad Ali was forced off the field with a pulled calf muscle that restricted his contribution to just a dozen overs out of the 90 delivered on day four.

At the start of play SNGPL managed to make early inroads when Imran Ali condemned Pakistan opener Nasir Jamshed to his second failure of the match. The left-hander unwisely tried to pierce the vast vacant area in front of square to a ball that pitched in the corridor of uncertainty. The aftermath of that injudicious stroke was a tumbling catch by Adnan Akmal almost in front of the second slip.

Mohammad Nawaz, another upcoming left-hander who was the top-scorer on day one with a resourceful 76, found himself trapped in front by another brilliant Imran delivery.

Fawad Alam, the fourth successive left-hander in the batting-order, showed much better shot selection compared to his ungainly early dismissal in the first innings with six boundaries in a 50-ball knock of 33. But just as he appeared to be settling in, he was gone when his nemesis Manzoor Khan, the teenaged left-armer who claimed 5-43 in the first innings, scalped the Pakistan player for the second time here when an inside edge saw the ball crash into the middle stump.

Until Kamran arrived to make amends for his first-ball dismissal on the opening day, NBP were going nowhere. In 28 overs of the first session on Thursday, they limped to 55-2. The rate considerably picked up in session two when an even 100 were scored in 29 overs with Kamran responsible for exactly half of them.

Kamran scored the bulk of the runs in his ongoing partnership with Sami. The opener was already in his strides on 30 when the skipper joined him in the middle. After three dot balls, Kamran slammed three successive boundaries off Manzoor to get moving.

For Yasir Shah it was a frustrating day as the Test leggie trudged back dejectedly at draw of stumps with 0-109 in 34 overs, with 64 runs conceded in boundaries.

Scoreboard

NATIONAL BANK (1st Innings) 242 (Mohammad Nawaz 76, Qaiser Abbas 59, Umar Waheed 48; Manzoor Khan 5-43, Azhar Ali 2-35). SNGPL (1st Innings) 543 (Mohammad Rizwan 224, Khurram Shehzad 120, Adnan Akmal 57, Ali Waqas 31; Fawad Alam 3-33, Ahmed Jamal 2-103, Zia-ul-Haq 2-112, Raza Hasan 2-161). NATIONAL BANK (2nd Innings): Nasir Jamshed c Adnan b Imran 4
Sami Aslam not out 100 Mohammad Nawaz lbw b Imran 2
Fawad Alam b Manzoor 33 Kamran Akmal not out 131
EXTRAS (LB-3, NB-2) 5 TOTAL (for three wkts, 90 overs) 275 FALL OF WKTS: 1-21, 2-29, 3-71. BOWLING (to-date): Asad Ali 12-6-25-0 (1nb); Manzoor Khan 16-3-58-1 (1nb); Imran Ali 13-5-30-2; Yasir Shah 34-5-109-0; Taufiq Umar 2-0-15-0; Azhar Ali 13-1-35-0.

Published in Dawn, December 26th, 2014