KARACHI: A scintillating Mohammad Rizwan century complemented Junaid Khan’s five wickets as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Fighters crushed the aspirations of Balochistan Warriors to clinch the Cool & Cool presents Haier Pentangular One-day Cup title with a comfortable six-wicket victory at the National Stadium here on Sunday.

After skipper Junaid had rocked the Warriors batting with career-best analysis of 5-45, it was Rizwan’s turn to take the centre stage with a dazzling 103 as Fighters chased down a target of 239 with three overs to spare. The final ended on an anticlimactic note with the scores level when Azhar Ali slipped one past Zohaib Khan and the ball sped away for four byes.

Rizwan was the difference in the run-chase as the upcoming wicket-keeper/batsman completed his second hundred of the tournament – he made 114 against Federal United on the New Year’s Day – while facing 87 balls altogether and striking 11 fours and a pulled six off Azhar.

Arriving at the fall of opener Mukhtar Ahmed’s wicket, Rizwan was involved in two fruitful partnerships. With Adil Amin (58 off 88 balls, seven boundaries) he put on 71 in 92 balls before tilting the final firmly in Fighters’ grip by adding 92 from only 80 balls with the left-handed Adnan Raees (36 off 37, five fours).

The Warriors, tactfully handled by Azhar and head coach Shaukat Mirza, were handicapped by the fact that for the second game running, their line-up was missing Mohammad Irfan who had left his team because of an undisclosed personal issue which compelled the giant fast bowler to pull out of the final.

They showed exemplary discipline while bowling because not a single wide or no-ball was bowled during the second half of the match. Seasoned spinner Zulfiqar Babar, who took the new ball, was extremely tidy with figures of 0-32 in 10 overs in the standout performance.

Earlier, Sami Aslam’s 119 off 123 balls (13 fours and one six) was the backbone of the innings after Warriors o had plunged into despair 57-4 in the 11th over. The former Pakistan Under-19 captain scored half of the runs made by his team after the Fighters skipper Junaid Khan opted to bowl first at the toss.

Had it not been for the resilience of the young left-hander, the Warriors’ plight would have been more depressing following the dismissal of established stars Azhar Ali and Sohaib Maqsood. Sami kept the innings afloat until he was ninth out at 210.

Unlike the past 10 days, the final saw a sizeable but noisy turnout thronged the stadium. The majority were expecting Azhar and Sohaib to entertain them but both of them disappointed in a big way.

Azhar scored just 21 when he was brilliantly taken by Mohammad Sami on his follow through off a leading edge as the Test right-hander tried to play through the midwicket region.

Sohaib, fresh from his swashbuckling match-winning knock of 125 against Punjab Badshahs, perished rather tamely for a single when he was caught behind while attempting a lazy glance against Junaid.

At that stage, the Warriors were in serious trouble at 50-3. More disappointment in the same over followed when Junaid cleaned up Usman Salahuddin for six.

Sami and fellow left-hander Ayaz Tasawwar then lifted the score to 121 before slow left-armer Zafar Gohar put an end to the threatening partnership of 64 in 85 by deceiving Ayaz for a 41-ball 24.

The Warriors lost three more wickets for the addition of 33 runs but Sami was still going strongly after surviving two dropped chances. On 12 he was let off by Adnan Raees off Sami. The Fighters then scuppered a second opportunity to get rid of Sami Aslam, who was then on 59, with the total on 138-6. Imran Khan was the culprit at long on where he fumbled one of the easiest catches; Zafar was the unlucky bowler on this occasion.

Sami brought up his second List ‘A’ century in the 41st over out of a total of 188 when he under-edged Mohammad Sami to the fine third man fence and celebrated the landmark with another boundary off the very next ball.

With good support from Ehsan Adil (23 not out), Sami ensured the Warriors reach a score of respectability as the pair added 56 in 49 balls. Man-of-the-match Junaid finally had Sami in what was straightforward LBW decision for international umpire Shozab Raza.

For the likes of Rizwan, Adil, Zohaib, Israrullah and Imran Khan it was their second major triumph at this venue as all of them were members of the Peshawar Panthers team which won the national T20 crown last September.

It was another feature in the cap of modest Abdur Rehman who as the head coach also astutely masterminded the Panthers’ T20 campaign under Zohaib’s captaincy.

Sindh Governor Ishratul Ebad Khan was the designated chief guest on Sunday but owing to pressing engagements, he couldn’t make it. Instead it was Commissioner Karachi, Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, to perform the duty at the post-match ceremony.

The Fighters received the winning trophy and Rs1 million, while the Warriors took Rs500,000. Azhar Ali won the best batsman of the tournament for scoring 302 runs with Junaid pocketing the bowler award for taking 11 wickets, while Rizwan bagged the ‘most outstanding player of the tournament’ prize.

Scoreboard

BALOCHISTAN WARRIORS:

Azhar Ali c and b Sami 21 Bismillah Khan c Adil b Junaid 12 Sami Aslam lbw b Junaid 119 Sohaib Maqsood c Rizwan b Junaid 1 Usman Salahuddin b Junaid 6 Ayaz Tasawwar b Zafar 24 Rizwan Haider lbw b Yasir 1 Kashif Bhatti lbw b Yasir 8 Zulfiqar Babar b Zafar 5 Ehsan Adil not out 23 Zia-ul-Haq b Junaid 8

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-6, NB-1) 10

TOTAL (all out, 47 overs) 238

FALL OF WKTS: 1-30, 2-46, 3-50, 4-57, 5-121, 6-122, 7-140, 8-154, 9-210.

BOWLING: Junaid Khan 10-0-45-5 (2w); Mohammad Sami 10-1-59-1 (4w); Adil Amin 1-0-7-0; Imran Khan 5-0-35-0 (1w); Yasir Shah 10-1-22-2; Zafar Gohar 9-0-52-2; Zohaib Khan 2-0-15-0.

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA FIGHTERS:

Mukhtar Ahmed c sub (Ali Asad) b Kashif 27 Israrullah c Bismillah b Zia 8 Adil Amin lbw b Ehsan 58 Mohammad Rizwan not out 103 Adnan Raees st Bismillah b Azhar 36 Zohaib Khan not out 3

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-3) 7

TOTAL (for four wkts, 47 overs) 242

FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-55, 3-126, 4-218.

DID NOT BAT: Mohammad Sami, Yasir Shah, Zafar Gohar, Imran Khan.

BOWLING: Zulfiqar Babar 10-1-32-0; Ehsan Adil 8-0-45-1; Zia-ul-Haq 7-0-26-1; Kashif Bhatti 10-0-51-1; Rizwan Haider 6-0-37-0; Azhar Ali 6-0-42-1.

RESULT: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Fighters won by six wickets.

UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza and Shozab Raza.

TV UMPIRE: Khalid Mahmood.

MATCH REFEREE: Mohammad Anees.

SCORERS: Syed Imran Ali (official); Mohammad Ahsan (media).

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Junaid Khan.

PLAYER-OF-THE-TOURNAMENT: Mohammad Rizwan

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2015

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