KARACHI: An undefeated 93 from Saad Ali enabled Karachi Dolphins carve out a thrilling five-wicket victory over National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and sealed their berth in the semi-finals of the Haier President’s Gold League One-day Cup at the National Stadium here on Tuesday.

But despite the outcome in the last round of matches, NBP also went through to the knockout stage as a result of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) being upstaged by the largely disappointing Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) in the other Group-I tie at the NBP Sports Complex.

The Dolphins topped the pool standings with eight points to earn a last-four clash on Thursday with State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) who qualified as the Group-II runners-up. NBP clinched the second spot in Group-I behind the Dolphins to progress with a superior net run-rate than that of SNGPL after both the departmental sides finished with six points apiece.

KRL, SBP also in last four

Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) put an end to Port Qasim Authority (PQA)’s aspirations by cantering to their fifth straight victory with a 79-run triumph at the Southend Club Ground and set up a date with NBP in the second semi-final on Friday. Both SBP and PQA earned six points but the former grabbed the second place on a better net run-rate.

Chasing 286, the Dolphins were shepherded to their target by upcoming left-hander Saad Ali with excellent support from Mohammad Waqas and Fazal Subhan and a master stroke from their coach Tauseef Ahmed who promoted Mir Hamza when 42 runs were still required.

Hamza, who normally bats at the tail of the innings, thrashed left-arm seamer Zia-ul-Haq for two sixes in the 47th over to make the task much easier for his side. He scored 24 from 14 balls in the unfinished stand of 42 in 26 balls with Saad who struck the winning runs off fast bowler Attaullah with a pull for two on the second ball of the last over of the match.

Saad’s calming presence during which he struck eight boundaries while facing 115 balls was a major factor. Waqas contributed an invaluable 67 (off 69 balls with eight fours) as he helped Saad put on 131 in 133 deliveries for the fifth wicket.

Opener Fazal hit eight fours and a brace of sixes in making 62 off 61 balls while dominating the opening stand of 62 in 61 balls with Rameez Raja (25 off 28 balls, five boundaries) before the Dolphins captain fell to a stunning catch by Qaiser Abbas.

Earlier, NBP collected 285-8 after Dolphins opted to field first at the toss. They might have

got more had they not been undone by atrocious decision-making from umpire Majid Hussain. Two such howlers during the first half of the game dented NBP badly.

Sami Aslam continued his rich vein of form with another sublime knock of 69 (68 balls, eight boundaries and one six). The former Pakistan Under-19 skipper was well on course of a third successive century in the competition when Majid upheld an LBW appeal despite the delivery from spinner Faraz Ahmed Khan was clearly going past the off stump as Sami missed an attempted sweep.

If this was considered a human error on the umpire’s part then the run out of Mohammad Nawaz was despicable and yet again illustrated how incompetent match officials, such as Majid, have served to ruin top-tier national tournaments. Nawaz had already made his ground at the non-striker’s end when the throw from Rameez broke the stumps.

But instead of giving the benefit of doubt, as the laws of the game clearly say, to the aggrieved batsman, Majid gleefully lifted his finger to send Nawaz (33 off 38, three fours) on his way.

Qaiser emerged as the top-scorer with a 63-ball 72 (eight fours and one six) and put on 82 in 86 balls for the sixth wicket with Nawaz after Sami and Fawad Alam (41 off 52 balls, two fours) had added 85 in 82 deliveries for the third wicket.

Centuries from Sharjeel Khan (122 off 107 balls, 14 fours and four sixes) and Shahid Yousuf (113 off 103, 13 fours and two sixes) propelled ZTBL to a facile five-wicket victory with three overs to spare after SNGPL had posted 304 with skipper Azhar Ali making 128 (118 balls, 12 fours and one six).

Meanwhile, SBP thrashed their way to a frenetic seven-wicket win over Karachi Zebras at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad. After dismissing the Zebras for 203, the bankers romped in the 32nd over.

The Zebras’ total was built around another fabulous innings from the talented Saud Shakeel. The ex-Pakistan all-rounder has a dream run in his maiden major domestic tournament. Following scores of 59.57, 79 and 21, the young left-hander hit up an undefeated 104 from 114 balls with nine boundaries.

KRL captain Saeed Anwar Jr slammed his second hundred in five matches as he made 120 (114 balls, 16 fours and two sixes) to help team get 277-9 before PQA were bundled out for 198.

In inconsequential fixtures, Peshawar Panthers decimated Rawalpindi Rams by seven wickets at the RLCA Ground in Gulberg with Israrullah blasting a career-best 155 (125 balls, 13 fours and five sixes), while Islamabad Leopards beat Lahore Lions by 124 runs at the UBL Sports Complex.

Results:

Group-I:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Karachi Dolphins beat National Bank by five wickets.

NATIONAL BANK 285-8 in 50 overs (Qaiser Abbas 72, Sami Aslam 69, Fawad Alam 41, Mohammad Nawaz 33, Kamran Akmal 29; Faraz Ahmed Khan 3-63, Mir Hamza 2-51); KARACHI DOLPHINS 286-5 in 49.2 overs (Saad Ali 93 not out, Mohammad Waqas 67, Fazal Subhan 62, Mir Hamza 24 not out).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: ZTBL beat SNGPL by five wickets.

SNGPL 304 in 50 overs (Azhar Ali 128, Khurram Shehzad 55, Imran Butt 38, Mohammad Rizwan 34; Sohail Tanvir 5-56, Haseeb-ur-Rehman 2-60); ZTBL 305-5 in 47 overs (Sharjeel Khan 122, Shahid Yousuf 113, Sohail Tanvir 23 not out, Yasir Hameed 22; Imran Ali 3-40, Azhar Ali 2-46).

At RLCA Ground (Gulberg), Karachi: Peshawar Panthers beat Rawalpindi Rams by seven wickets.

RAWALPINDI RAMS 289 in 49 overs (Zahid Mansoor 100, Malik Aswad 54, Haseeb Azam 48, Yasim Murtaza 25; Afaq Ahmed 4-76, Taj Wali 3-40, Jibran Khan 3-54); PESHAWAR PANTHERS 290-3 in 46.2 overs (Israrullah 155, Musadiq Ahmed 67, Mehran Ibrahim 25 not out).

Group-II:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Islamabad Leopards beat Lahore Lions by 124 runs.

ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS 266 in 50 overs (Ali Sarfraz 66, Asadullah Sumeri 63, Sarmad Bhatti 51, Tariq Mahmood 23; Asfand Mehran 3-32, Saad Nasim 3-68, Agha Salman 2-23); LAHORE LIONS 152 in 35 overs (Agha Salman 57, Tariq Nawaz 33; Faizan Riaz 5-24, Hamza Nadeem 2-14, Kamran Hussain 2-44).

At Southend Club Ground, Karachi: KRL beat Port Qasim Authority by 79 runs.

KRL 277-9 in 50 overs (Saeed Anwar Jr 120, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 67, Ali Khan 28; Azam Hussain 3-57, Umar Amin 206, Mohammad Talha 2-50); PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 198 in 44.2 overs (Mohammad Salman 40, Khalid Latif 37, Umar Amin 30, Aariz Kamal 35, Shahzaib Hasan 21; Nayyar Abbas 3-28, Sadaf Hussain 3-42, Saeed Anwar 2-18).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: State Bank beat Karachi Zebras by seven wickets.

KARACHI ZEBRAS 203 in 47.5 overs (Saud Shakeel 104 not out, Jaahid Ali 32, Owais Ahmed Rehmani 30; Zafar Gohar 3-23, Mohammad Naved 3-48, Kashif Bhatti 2-36); STATE BANK 204-3 in 31.4 overs (Farrukh Shehzad 51, Mukhtar

Ahmed 49 not out, Babar Azam 46, Abid Ali 38; Raza-ul-Hasan 2-58).

Final standings

(Tabulated under: played, won, lost, points, net run-rate):

Group-I

Karachi Dolphins 5 4 1 8 +1.251 National Bank 5 3 2 6 +1.702 SNGPL 5 3 2 6 +0.440 Peshawar Panthers 5 2 3* 4 -0658 ZTBL 5 2* 3 4 -1.309 Rawalpindi Rams 5 1 4 2 -1.889

Group-II

KRL 5 5 0 10 +1.358 State Bank 5 3 2 6 +0.781 Port Qasim 5 3 2 6 +0.075
Lahore Lions 5 2 3 4 -0.912 Islamabad Leopards 5 1 4 2 -0.301 Karachi Zebras 5 1 4 2 -1.082
*Peshawar Panthers awarded walkover to ZTBL

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2015

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