KARACHI: Hyderabad Hawks put themselves in pole position to qualify for the triangular stage of the Haier President’s Silver League One-day Cup when they handed PIA a shock defeat in the Group-I tie at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.

The Hawks, who defeated United Bank in Wednesday’s opening round of the only pool with four teams competing, chased down a target of 293 with two deliveries left thanks to a splendid 108-ball knock of 111 from former international Faisal Athar who hit 11 boundaries and one six.

Shoaib Leghari also made a vital contribution as the all-rounder slammed an unbeaten 64 from 50 balls with the aid of six fours and one six.

PIA earlier reached 292-5 with Kamran Sajid striking his second successive century in three days. The skipper made 112 off 132 balls with nine fours, while Faisal Iqbal hit six fours and one six in scoring 80 from 83 deliveries.

The Hawks now just need to defeat Quetta Bears to progress to the next round regardless of the result of the PIA-United Bank match on Sunday.

United Bank sealed a seven-wicket victory against Quetta Bears on their territory at the UBL Sports Complex.

Off-spinner Junaid Ilyas snared four wickets for 22 runs to send the Bears reeling to 165 all out.

Habib Bank kept their hopes of qualifying for the next phase from Group-II after racing to a seven-wicket success against Sialkot Stallions at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.

After dismissing the Stallions for 149, Habib Bank sprinted towards their modest target in just 14.3 overs.

In the same pool, Bahawalpur Stags trounced Abbottabad Falcons by 92 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Mohammad Naeem hammered 102 (116 balls, eight boundaries) to lead Pakistan Television to a five-wicket win over Lahore Eagles in their Group-III encounter at the LCCA Ground in Lahore.

Faisalabad Wolves clinched a narrow three-wicket victory against Multan Tigers at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad with Hasan Mahmood making an unbeaten 85 for the home side.

Results:

Group-I:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: United Bank beat Quetta Bears by seven wickets.

QUETTA BEARS 165 in 47.5 overs (Sher Ali 37, Mohammad Asif 27, Jalat Khan 22; Junaid Ilyas 4-22, Rumman Raees Khan 3-20, Hasan Mahmood 2-42); UNITED BANK 166-3 in 39 overs (Saeed bin Nasir 57 not out, Ammar Hasan 34 not out, Ali Asad 23, Bismillah Khan 22; Jalat Khan 2-34).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: Hyderabad Hawks beat PIA by three wickets.

PIA 292-5 in 50 overs (Kamran Sajid 112, Faisal Iqbal 80, Fahad Iqbal 32, Shaharyar Ghani 31 not out; Mir Ali Talpur 2-29); HYDERABAD HAWKS 296-7 in 49.4 overs (Faisal Athar 111, Shoaib Leghari 64 not out, Mohammad Saddam 31, Zeeshan Gul 30, Mir Ali Talpur 20 not out; Kamran Sajid 2-36).

Group-II:

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Bahawalpur Stags beat Abbottabad Falcons by 92 runs.

BAHAWALPUR STAGS 294-8 in 50 overs (Rehan Rafiq 81, Faisal Mubashir 61, Moinuddin 52, Bilal Khilji 45, Mazhar Bashir 23; Umair Khan 3-51); ABBOTTABAD FALCONS 202 in 42.1 overs (Khalilullah 50, Mohammad Ali 39, Waqar Orakzai 32, Shakeel Ahmed 21 not out; Imranullah Aslam 3-41, Afraseem Hussain 2-43, Mazhar Bashir 2-46).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: Habib Bank beat Sialkot Stallions by seven wickets.

SIALKOT STALLIONS 149 in 39.1 overs (Bilal Hussain 30; Aslam Qureshi 3-13, Abdul Ameer 2-23, Irfan Fazil 2-27, Abdur Rehman 2-40); HABIB BANK 150-4 in 14.3 overs (Aftab Khan 71, Humayun Farhat 38; Raees Haider 3-40).

Group-III:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: Pakistan Television beat Lahore Eagles by five wickets.

LAHORE EAGLES 322 in 49.4 overs (Gohar Hafeez 79, Mohammad Waheed 75, Tayyab Tahir 62, Fahad-ul-Haq 32; Samiullah 2-38, Hammad Ahmed 2-63, Raheel Majeed 2-64, Mohammad Abbas 2-72); PAKISTAN TELEVISION 326-5 in 48.5 overs (Mohammad Naeem 102, Nawaz Ahmed 65, Hasan Raza 50, Usman Ashraf 37 not out, Zeeshan Mushtaq 33; Asif Raza 2-58).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: Faisalabad Wolves beat Multan Tigers by three wickets.

MULTAN TIGERS 243 in 48.4 overs (Sikander Khan 93, Shahzad Ali 52, Asif Fawad 34; Naseer Akram 4-46, Imran Ali 3-44, Fahim Ashraf 2-32); FAISALABAD WOLVES 247-7 in 48 overs (Hasan Mahmood 85 not out, Hamza Zaheer 48, Waqas Wasif 45, Fahim Ashraf 28, Sadaqat Ali 23 not out; Asif Fawad 3-62, Haziq Habibullah 2-30, Mohammad Asif 2-47).

Sunday’s fixtures: United Bank vs PIA at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi; Hyderabad Hawks vs Quetta Bears at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad; Habib Bank vs Wapda at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; Sialkot Stallions vs Bahawalpur Stags at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala; Lahore Eagles vs Faisalabad Wolves at LCCA Ground, Lahore; Pakistan Television vs SSGC at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2015

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