KARACHI: Seamer Waqas Maqsood starred with a nine-wicket haul on Monday as Wapda chalked up their straight victory in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship by virtue of defeating Karachi Blues by 46 runs here at the National Stadium.

The 28-year-old left-armer from Faisalabad claimed 5-91 in 25 overs to end up with a match bag of 9-136 as Karachi Blues, chasing 374, were all out for 327 in the 10th mandatory over on the fourth and final day of the second-round fixture.

Karachi Blues, though, had their chance of pulling off a sensational win when debutant Wasim Ahmed was batting superbly. But his dismissal, caught behind by Kamran Akmal off Waqas for a 99-ball 63 ended all hopes as the final four wickets went down swiftly in the space of just 32 balls after Wapda captain Salman Butt took the second new ball.

Only five runs were added to the total after Wasim was seventh out at 322 before the giant figure of Mohammad Irfan grabbed the final wicket to fall, trapping Abdul Ameer leg-before. Kamran also played a major role in Wapda’s second successive success — giving them 18 points in the championship — by finishing with nine dismissals (all caught), including five in the first innings.

Earlier, Khurram Manzooor (58) and Fazal Subhan (81) were both guilty of throwing wickets by playing injudicious strokes after being well-set for big scores that could have helped Karachi Blues’ cause.

Holders SNGPL also maintained a clean sheet thus far when they completed a come-from-behind win against Rawalpindi in the day-night game at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

Former Pakistan opener Taufiq Umar played a captain’s innings of 119 — the 35-year-old left-hander’s 21st first-class century in 169 appearances — as SNGPL successfully chased down a daunting target of 354 with the match ending at 7:23pm after conclusion of the 40-minute dinner break.

Taufiq, who hit 13 fours during his 254-ball knock, added 161 for the second wicket with young opener Imran Butt (86 off 216 balls, 11 fours) after the pair resumed SNGPL’s overnight innings at 184-1.

SNGPL, who conceded a 36-run lead on the first innings, took six points.

Lahore Whites completed PIA’s misery by savouring a 96-run triumph at the LCCA Ground in Lahore. The national carrier, who lost the first-round game against Karachi Whites, mustered 318 all out in their second innings after starting the day at 115-4.

Paceman Umaid Asif claimed five wickets for 55 runs, while slow left-armer Qaiser Ashraf had 3-82.

HBL were the only other side to taste victory in the second round when they beat Islamabad by five wickets in less than three days of action at the Diamond Club Ground on Sunday.

The remaining four fixtures were all drawn with Karachi Whites, KRL, UBL and SSGC taking three points against NBP, Fata, Lahore Blues and Peshawar, respectively.

Scores and results on Monday (final day of four):

Second round:

Pool ‘A’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Wapda beat Karachi Blues by 46 runs.

WAPDA 342 in 101.5 overs (Mohammad Saad 106, Kamran Akmal 77, Aamir Sajjad 45; Abdul Ameer 6-79, Adeel Malik 2-75) and 228 in 61 overs (Ayaz Tasawwar 113, Mohammad Saad 27; Adeel Mali 7-55); KARACHI BLUES 192 in 67.1 overs (Mohammad Waqas Sr 43, Fazal Subhan 35, Khalid Latif 35, Mohammad Waqas 20; Waqas Maqsood 4-45, Khalid Usman 3-36, Naseer Akram 2-22) and 327 in 90.4 overs (Fazal Subhan 81, Wasim Ahmed 63, Khurram Manzoor 58, Mohammad Waqas Jr 30, Khalid Latif 27, Khurram Shehzad 23 not out; Waqas Maqsood 5-91, Mohammad Irfan 2-52, Azhar Attari 2-54).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Match drawn.

UBL 448 in 123.3 overs (Umar Siddique 185, Sharjeel Khan 96, Saeed bin Nasir 55, Rumman Raees Khan 34; Agha Salman 3-78, Waqas Ahmed 3-120); LAHORE BLUES 277 in 107 overs (Waqas Saleem 106, Asim Ali Nasir 48, Raza Ali Dar 33; Rumman Raees Khan 4-42, Zohaib Shera 4-78) and 294-3 in 87 overs (Zain-ul-Hasnain 113 not out, Agha Salman 79, Tayyab Tahir 66).

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: Match drawn.

PESHAWAR 333 in 99.1 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 97, Mehran Ibrahim 77, Ashfaq Ahmed 56, Asif Fawad 37, Akbar Badshah 22; Zafar Gohar 3-60, Mohammad Irfan 2-50, Aamir Yamin 2-80) and 247-6 in 123 overs (Ashfaq Ahmed 74, Sahibzada Farhan 57, Musadiq Ahmed 28, Mehran Ibrahim 27; Zafar Gohar 3-96, Mohammad Irfan 2-49); SSGC 462 in 126.2 overs (Awais Zia 158, Ali Asad 91, Maqbool Ahmed 56, Adil Amin 51, Mohammad Irfan 22; Asif Fawad 6-106).

Pool ‘B:

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Match drawn.

KARACHI WHITES 628-5 declared in 159.3 overs (Hamza Ghanchi 300 not out, Behram Khan 155, Faraz Ali 68, Babar Hussain Agha 57; Altaf Ahmed 2-67, Qaiser Abbas 2-102); NBP 318 in 90.2 overs (Usman Salahuddin 113 not out, Rameez Raja 77, Qaiser Abbas 45, Nasir Jamshed 40; Tabish Khan 5-63, Azam Hussain 2-68, Raza-ul-Hasan 2-104) and 262-3 in 74 overs (Nasir Jamshed 88, Usman Salahuddin 72 not out, Naved Yasin 51 not out, Rameez Raja 45; Raza-ul-Hasan 3-111).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: Lahore Whites beat PIA by 96 runs.

LAHORE WHITES 365 in 96.1 overs (Umar Akmal 74, Umaid Asif 57, Mohammad Waqas 46, Anas Mahmood 45, Rameez Alam 44, Farhan Khan 22, Adnan Rasool 21; Tahir Khan 6-101, Rafay Safdar 2-82) and 224 in 55.3 overs (Umar Akmal 101, Mohammad Waheed 22; Salman Saeed 3-30, Rafay Safdar 3-36, Najaf Shah 2-19); PIA 175 in 65.5 overs (Fahad Iqbal 46, Tahir Khan 33, Shoaib Khan 26, Obaidullah 23; Adnan Rasool 4-53, Qaiser Ashraf 3-61) and 318 in 93.3 overs (Fahad Iqbal 64, Shoaib Khan 48, Salman Saeed 48 not out, Najaf Shah 32, Rafay Safdar 29, Obaidullah 27; Umaid Asif 5-55, Qaiser Ashraf 3-82).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: Match drawn.

KRL 352 in 106.2 overs (Saeed Anwar Jr 157, Abdul Rehman Muzammil 33, Zulfiqar Jan 30, Yasir Ali 24, Mohammad Abbas 20 not out; Asif Afridi 5-102, Asif Ali 3-54) and 310-8 declared in 85.4 overs (Abdul Rehman Muzammil 101 not out, Luqman Butt 47, Sardar Hasan Raza 38, Nayyar Abbas 38, Saeed Anwar Jr 33, Adnan Mahmood 30; Asif Afridi 6-102); FATA 298 in 81.3 overs (Fawad Khan 95, Khushdil Shah 75, Mohammad Sarwar 39, Mohammad Naeem 24, Asif Afridi 20; Mohammad Abbas 5-79, Nayyar Abbas 4-81) and 229-6 in 63 overs (Mohammad Sarwar 63, Mohammad Naeem 50, Khushdil Shah 23, Asif Ali 22 not out, Rehan Afridi 21, Asif Afridi 21 not out, Fawad Khan 20; Mohammad Abbas 2-24, Nayyar Abbas 2-57, Shoaib Ahmed 2-65).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi (day-night fixture): SNGPL beat Rawalpindi by four wickets.

RAWALPINDI 173 in 66.4 overs (Umar Waheed 46, Zeeshan Malik 29; Asad Ali 5-40) and 317 in 80.4 overs (Yasir Hameed 81, Talha Qureshi 59, Umar Waheed 58; Samiullah Khan Niazi 3-68, Imran Khalid 3-68, Abubakar Khan 2-8, Asad Ali 2-49); SNGPL 137 in 49.2 overs (Imran Khalid 46 not out, Taufiq Umar 30, Abubakar Khan 23; Abid Hasan 5-40, Ataullah 4-51) and 355-6 in 123.5 overs (Taufiq Umar 119, Imran Butt 86, Abubakar Khan 43, Naeemuddin 24, Hussain Talat 23; Ataullah 2-115, Abid Hasan 2-119).

Published in Dawn October 11th, 2016