KARACHI: State Bank made a significant breakthrough in the mainstream of domestic cricket when they turned the tables on National Bank to annex the Haier President’s Gold League One-day Cup at the National Stadium here on Sunday.

In a pulsating final that ebbed and flowed throughout the day, State Bank edged Kamran Akmal’s side on the second-last ball of the game by just two wickets to land their first major trophy. Kashif Bhatti struck two telling blows in that over off a wayward Attaullah, which led to emotional scenes as the entire winning squad raced to the field to embrace Kashif and his batting partner Zafar Gohar.

The disappointment of the faces of the National Bank team told the story since they were so close to winning the title which they had shared last season when the final against Khan Research Laboratories in Lahore failed to reach its conclusion.

After a long time, those few who were present saw a well-contested game which was played in good spirit. The standard of play was high as was the quality of umpiring from both Ghaffar Kazmi and Khalid Mahmood, who were officiating in their first final under the supervision of seasoned match referee Ilyas Khan who is due to retire later this year.

It was a title-decider that neither side really deserved to lose as the pendulum swing one way or the other. On a cloudy day to start with, winning of the toss proved vital. Mohammad Naveed got it spot on when he asked National Bank to have first use of a pitch where playing strokes was hazardous because of the two-paced nature of the surface.

The State Bank captain also made the initial breakthrough when he got rid of the in-form young opener Sami Aslam for 16 four deliveries after the initial 10-over Powerplay was done with.

Nasir Jamshed and Kamran then carried the score to 94 when Nasir (37 off 56 balls, four boundaries) provided seamer Aamir Yamin with a return catch. Kamran departed in the next over when he mistimed a cut against spinner Kashif and was taken at point for a 31-ball 34 (five fours).

Rizwan Haider made further inroads with the wickets of Fawad Alam (20) and Umar Waheed (13) to leave National Bank in dire straits at 132-5 in the 30th over.

The reason why National Bank reached a competitive 279-6 was due to a brilliant partnership of 139 between the left-handed duo of Mohammad Nawaz and Qaiser Abbas. Nawaz was absolutely magnificent in his shot selection as he slammed a dozen boundaries and one six in scoring 93 from just 67 deliveries before a suicidal attempt to sneak a second run which never existed resulted in his being run out on the final ball of the 49th over.

Qaiser, the great utility man in the National Bank ranks who is not a regular fixture these days, ended up contributing a 57-ball 46 that included four boundaries and a six.

State Bank needed a fitting response in their chase in conditions that eased out considerably; their prayers were answered when Farrukh Shehzad (26) and Babar Azam (37 off 37, five fours) scored at better than run-a-ball while adding 53 for the first wicket.

Upcoming left-arm spinner Mohammad Asghar, who was the best bowler by miles on Sunday, then created panic in the batting camp when he deceived Babar and Abid Ali (32) with well-disguised armers.

Mukhtar Ahmed, known for his T20 exploits as a swashbuckling right-handed opener, then produced an innings if substance as he and Naved Yasin combined to add exactly 100 for the fourth wicket before Naved (42 off 66, three fours) was brilliantly caught on the deep square-leg boundary by Umar Waheed despite the glare of the sun coming straight into his eye-line.

Mukhtar fell to Attaullah after having made 60 from 76 balls with the aid of three fours and one six and Asghar came back to dismiss Rizwan Haider in the 42nd over, the National Bank were in the driving seat once again.

However, State Bank still had Usman Salahuddin (20) and Aamir Yamin (33 off 23, three fours and one six) in a line-up that bat very deep. And the two didn’t let the team down as they forged a priceless stand worth 53 in 40 balls.

Both departed in the space of just one delivery; Usman was caught by Asghar off Zia while Aamir was run out while backing up at the non-striker’s end when, in the presence of mind, Zia calmly removed the bails after seeing the unaware batsman leaving the crease before he had delivered the ball.

At that stage, State Bank were still nine short of the target but they finally managed to get over the line.

Despite finishing on the losing side, Nawaz was adjudged man-of-the-match; other individual awards of Rs50,000 each went to Sami Aslam (outstanding cricketer), Babar Azam (best batsman) and KRL’s Sadaf Hussain (bet bowler).

State Bank received the winners’ trophy and Rs1 million while National Bank had to settle for the runners-up trophy and Rs500,000, presented by PCB’s director of domestic cricket operations Intikhab Alam.

Scoreboard

NATIONAL BANK OF PAKISTAN:

Nasir Jamshed c and b Aamir 37

Sami Aslam c Usman b Naveed 16

Kamran Akmal c Babar b Kashif 34

Fawad Alam b Rizwan 20

Umar Waheed lbw b Rizwan 13

Mohammad Nawaz run out 93

Qaiser Abbas not out 46

Raza Hasan not out 2

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-16) 18

TOTAL (for six wkts, 50 overs) 279

FALL OF WKTS: 1-46, 2-94, 3-97, 4-129, 5-132, 6-271.

DID NOT BAT: Attaullah, Mohammad Asghar, Zia-ul-Haq.

BOWLING: Mohammad Naveed 10-0-50-1 (2w); Aamir Yamin 10-0-57-1 (8w); Rizwan Haider 10-0-60-2 (3w); Kashif Bhatti 10-0-51-1 Zafar Gohar 10-0-59-0.

STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN:

Farrukh Shehzad c Nasir b Attaullah 26

Babar Azam b Asghar 37

Abid Ali lbw b Asghar 32

Mukhtar Ahmed c Asghar b Attaullah 60

Naved Yasin c Umar b Raza 42

Rizwan Haider c Sami b Asghar 8

Usman Salahuddin c Asghar b Zia 20

Aamir Yamin run out 33

Kashif Bhatti not out 10

Zafar Gohar not out 1

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-6, W-3, NB-1) 14

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 49.5 overs) 283

FALL OF WKTS: 1-53, 2-97, 3-106, 4-206, 5-216, 6-218, 7-271, 8-271.

DID NOT BAT: Mohammad Naveed.

BOWLING: Zia-ul-Haq 10-1-41-1 (1w); Attaullah 6.5-0-61-2 (1nb, 1w); Raza Hasan 10-0-69-1; Mohammad Asghar 10-0-41-3; Mohammad Nawaz 8-0-38-0; Qaiser Abbas 2-0-13-0; Fawad Alam 3-0-10-0.

RESULT: State Bank of Pakistan won by two wickets.

UMPIRES: Ghaffar Kazmi and Khalid Mahmood.

TV UMPIRE: Mohammad Asif.

MATCH REFEREE: Ilyas Khan.

OFFICIAL SCORER: Syed Imran Ali.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Mohammad Nawaz.

Published in Dawn February 2nd , 2015

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