KARACHI: Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) and United Bank Limited (UBL) became the first qualifiers for the semi-finals of the Cool & Cool presents National One-day Cup after two pool leaders continued their winning run on Wednesday.

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) also remained on course for a place in the last four while Islamabad – the giant-killers of the event – have all but qualified for the knockout round with fourth victory.

Abdul Rehman Muzammil, a 26-year-old right-hander from Multan, couldn’t have hoped for a much appropriate moment in his brief List ‘A’ career to score a brilliant 159 in a five-star performance as KRL outclassed Habib Bank Limited (HBL) by 69 runs at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad to record their sixth successive win in Group ‘B’.

Muzammil’s maiden century in only his eighth one-dayer – lasting 122 balls and featuring 15 boundaries and seven sixes, enabled KRL to amass 328-8 in their 50 overs HBL skipper Imran Farhat opted to bowl first.

Saeed Anwar Jr, the veteran KRL captain, scored a run-a-ball 64 (five fours and two sixes) while helping the dominant Muzammil put on 133 after KRL had slumped to 75-3 in the 17th over.

Muzammil and Luqman Butt (43 off 26 balls, three fours and two sixes) further tormented HBL by adding 91 for the fifth wicket.

Discarded Pakistan spinner Abdur Rehman took 5-51 in 10 overs but HBL’s guest players from Afghanistan, Samiullah Shenwari and Mohammad Shahzad, endured a mixed day.

Shenwari returned 0-39 in six overs with his leg-spinners and was run out for 12. Shahzad, opening the innings, blasted five boundaries and three sixes in a quick 43 from 34 balls in the opening stand of 67 in the opening powerplay overs.

HBL lost their last eight wickets for 129 runs after reaching 129-2 in the 20th over to be all out for 258 in the 45th over. Ammad Butt hit a gallant 55 (52 balls, four fours and three sixes) before becoming one of former Test paceman Yasir Ali’s five wickets.

After their seven-run loss to KRL on Monday, NBP hit back strongly to overpower Wapda by five wickets here at the National Stadium.

Pakistan’s tainted ex-captain Salman Butt made his fourth major score in the tournament by striking a sedate 95 off 146 balls as Wapda posted 202-9 after being sent in by Kamran Akmal, who had won the toss after the start was delayed by 30 minutes because of wet conditions of the pitch.

Salman was on course for a second hundred in six matches but he went for an unnecessary cut in the 47th over and was taken at deep point by Akbar-ur-Rehman after hitting 11 fours and one six.

Wapda, in fact, recovered after nose-diving to 113-6 in the 33rd over through a 61-run stand in 64 balls between Salman and Khalid Usman (31).

Mohammad Asif provided Wapda the start they wanted when the disgraced ex-Pakistan paceman bowled Hamza Paracha for a three-ball duck.

But once Kamran joined Nasir Jamshed, NBP made light work of the chase, sealing their fifth victory when Akbar-ur-Rehman pulled occasional leg-spinner Mohammad Saad for a huge six.

Kamran was in serene touch with a superbly constructed 77. The discarded Pakistan wicket-keeper’s 78-ball effort contained 12 boundaries and one six before he was caught at deep extra cover.

Nasir, who shared a third-wicket stand of 122 in 141 balls with his captain, also perished after hitting five fours in his 88-ball 62.

NBP will be through to the semi-finals if they defeat HBL on Friday. But in case they lose and Wapda beat KRL, then Wapda will qualify for semi-finals on a superior net run-rate.

In the remaining Group ‘B’ fixtures Karachi Whites and Lahore Whites both clinched inconsequential victories.

UBL raced to their fifth success in Group ‘A’ when they outgunned Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) by eight wickets at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad.

SSGC mustered a meagre 163 after Younis Khan called correctly at the toss. In reply, UBL reached their target in the 26th over with Shan Masood scoring an unbeaten 75 (73 balls, 10 boundaries).

Islamabad moved into second spot with nine points after chalking up their fourth win. Their latest victims were Hyderabad who went down by 68 runs at the National Ground in the federal capital.

Despite losing to UBL, SSGC are still in contention if Friday’s last-round fixtures go their way. Currently, SSGC trail Islamabad by two points with an inferior net run-rate as well. But if SSGC beat already-eliminated SNGPL by a big margin and Islamabad lose heavily to Lahore Blues, then both outfits will have identical record of four wins and two defeats. Then net run-rate will come into play to determine the second qualifiers from this pool.

Wednesday’s results:

Sixth round:

Group ‘A’:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Peshawar bt Lahore Blues by four runs.

PESHAWAR 302-4 in 50 overs (Adil Amin 140, Akbar Badshah 102 not out, Israrullah 28; Aizaz Cheema 2-57); LAHORE BLUES 298-9 in 50 overs (Daniyal Sheikh 117, Agha Salman 65, Tayyab Tahir 27, Zain-ul-Hasnain 25; Imran Khan Sr 5-56, Musadiq Ahmed 2-43).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: UBL bt SSGC by eight wickets.

SSGC 163 in 39.1 overs (Saifullah Khan Bangash 41, Usama Mir 27, Muzammil Nizam 25, Tabish Khan 24; Yasim Murtaza 3-24, Mir Hamza 2-11, Sadaif Mehdi 2-27, Karamat Ali 2-44); UBL 165-2 in 25.5 overs (Shan Masood 75 not out, Naved Sarwar 47, Sharjeel Khan 30).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: SNGPL bt PQA by 21 runs.

SNGPL 226 in 47.4 overs (Abu Bakar Khan 47, Khurram Shehzad 38, Imran Khalid 30, Adnan Akmal 26, Imran Butt 23; Zohaib Shera 5-56, Kamran Younis 2-24); PQA 205 in 48.4 overs (Daniyal Ahsan 34, Faraz Ali 34, Mohammad Salman 29, Kamran Younis 28; Azizullah 4-39, Imran Khalid 2-34).

At National Ground, Islamabad: Islamabad bt Hyderabad by 68 runs.

ISLAMABAD 270-9 in 50 overs (Shahid Yousuf 75, Mohammad Naeem 43, Shehzad Azam Rana 36 not out, Mohammad Irfan 27, Zohaib Ahmed 22; Mohammad Saddam 3-54, Usman Khan Shinwari 2-19, Nasir Awais 2-58, Kashif Bhatti 2-63); HYDERABAD 202 in 43 overs (Azeem Ghumman 46, Mohammad Awais 42, Shoaib Leghari 42 not out, Nasir Awais 24, Haris Khan 21; Abdul Majid 4-36, Hasan Ali 3-41, Shehzad Azam Rana 2-39).

Group ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: NBP bt Wapda by five wickets.

WAPDA 202-9 in 50 overs (Salman Butt 95, Khalid Usman 31, Ayaz Tasawwar 22, Zulfiqar Babar 20 not out; Zia-ul-Haq 2-34, Mohammad Asghar 2-50); NBP 205-5 in 45.1 overs (Kamran Akmal 77, Nasir Jamshed 62, Akbar-ur-Rehman 28 not out; Mohammad Saad 2-39).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Lahore Whites b Fata by 160 runs.

LAHORE WHITES 259-7 in 50 overs (Usman Salahuddin 105 not out, Mohammad Hamza 28, Anas Mahmood 26, Mohammad Waheed 25, Jahanzeb Abdullah 21; Ahmed Asfandyar 2-39, Sohrab Khan 2-54); FATA 99 in 25 overs (Haroon Sadaqat 24, Fawad Khan 22, Khushdil Shah 22; Mohammad Waheed 4-20, Mukhtar Ahmed 2-4, Mustafa Iqbal 2-17).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Karachi Whites bt Rawalpindi by four wickets.

RAWALPINDI 224 in 43.2 overs (Usman Saeed 73, Sarmad Hameed 51, Shehzad Ahmed 25, Taimur Khan 25; Faraz Ahmed Khan 4-32, Fahad Iqbal 3-48); KARACHI WHITES 225-6 in 42.4 overs (Saud Shakeel 70 not out, Faisal Iqbal 57, Owais Ahmed Rehmani 31 not out; Faisal Iqbal 2-34, Yasir Arafat 2-43).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: KRL beat HBL by 69 runs.

KRL 327-8 in 50 overs (Abdul Rehman Muzammil 159, Saeed Anwar Jr 64, Luqman Butt 43, Imam-ul-Haq 33; Abdur Rehman 5-51); HBL 258 in 44.1 overs (Ammad Butt 55, Mohammad Shahzad 43, Aftab Khan 35, Hasan Raza Jr 28, Imran Farhat 25, Rameez Aziz 21; Yasir Ali 5-52).

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2016