KARACHI: Seamer Mohammad Abbas bowled KRL to an emphatic 149-run victory over Karachi Whites on Monday with a career-best match haul of 14 wickets while UBL celebrated their first success in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship.

Both third-round fixtures finished on the penultimate of the four-day matches with KRL temporarily moving atop Pool ‘B’ with 21 points after securing their second win of the season 37 minutes before tea at the National Stadium.

Resuming at 30-0 in pursuit of a 306-run target, Karachi Whites were blown away for 156 by the 26-year-old Abbas who improved his previous best return of 7-57 — for PTV against Karachi Zebras exactly two years at the NBP Sports Complex — by picking up 8-46 in 22.3 overs. The right-armer, who toured England with Pakistan ‘A’ this year, completed match figures of 14-93 as KRL earned nine points.

Former international Shahzaib Hasan was the only batsman to offer resistance as the Karachi Whites captain scored a 63-ball 52 that included nine boundaries before being caught and bowled by spinner Nayyar Abbas.

UBL heaved a sigh of relief when they overpowered Peshawar by nine wickets at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar after teenaged Pakistan Under-19 fast bowler Sameen Gul claimed his best innings figures of 5-40 as Peshawar folded up for 109 in their second innings. The 17-year-old ended up with match bag of 8-83.

Needing a modest 101, UBL romped to 103-1 in only 19.3 overs as Pakistan limited-overs opener Sharjeel Khan bludgeoned an unbeaten 82 from only 68 balls with the aid of six sixes and seven fours.

UBL, earlier, recovered from 260-8 to go past Peshawar’s first-inning tally of 311 by making 320 thanks to Karamat Ali (48) and Sadaif Mehdi (35).

Former Pakistan Under-19 batsman Ramiz Aziz registered his fifth first-class century to help HBL build an impregnable first-innings lead of 263 over Karachi Blues by reaching 420-9 declared here at the UBL Sports Complex.

The 26-year-old left-hander struck an undefeated 119 after starting the day on 32 in HBL’s overnight score of 255-5. He hit 11 boundaries and three sixes in his 226-ball knock in a stay of 306 minutes.

Karachi Blues, who were bundled out for 157 on day one, were 125-1 with Haris Ali (41) and Fazal Subhan (41) engaged in an unbroken stand of 79 after opener Khurram Manzoor was out for 35.

Rawalpindi took a slim 13-run lead by dismissing NBP for 253 at the Diamond Club Ground with skipper Sohail Tanvir grabbing 6-58 in 28 overs. The Pakistan seamer then reached 40 not out in Rawalpindi’s second-innings total of 197-7.

Centuries from Mohammad Rizwan and Adnan Akmal guided SNGPL to a commanding 545, giving the champions a 188-run advantage over Lahore Whites at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Rizwan made 167 (off 264 balls, 25 fours and one six) and Adnan run-a-ball 107 with 15 boundaries as the two wicket-keepers put on 126 for the sixth after Rizwan and Hussain Talat (69) had added 161 for the fifth.

Lahore Whites then reached 39-0 in their second innings to trail by 149 runs.

Asif Zakir hammered 128 (252 balls) and skipper Shoaib Malik 74 (85 balls, eight fours and one six) to help SSGC collect 423 in response to Lahore Blues’ 266 at the LCCA Ground in Lahore. The regional side then lost two wickets in making 67 runs in the second innings.

PIA were left facing uphill task of avoid third straight defeat as they slumped to 33-2 while chasing 345 against Fata at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.

In the day-night fixture at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, Islamabad were forced to follow on after totalling 156 in reply to Wapda’s 504 with left-arm paceman Waqas Maqsood claiming 5-35 in 13 overs.

Tainted ex-Pakistan seamer Mohammad Asif took 2-51 in 16 overs on his return to first-class cricket after a gap of six years.

Batting again, Islamabad were 225-5 — while requiring another 123 to avert an innings loss — with Pakistan all-rounder Imad Wasim being their last hope of saving the match with an unbeaten 50. Asif captured 2-19 in 13 overs.

Close of play scores and results on Monday (day three of four):

Third round:

Pool ‘A’:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: KARACHI BLUES 157 in 57.4 overs (Mohammad Sami 44, Fazal Subhan 34, Haris Ali 26; Yamin Ahmadzai 4-36, Usman Khan Shinwari 3-13, Abdur Rehman 2-33) and 125-1 in 32 overs (Haris Ali 41 not out, Fazal Subhan 41 not out, Khurram Manzoor 35); HBL 420-9 declared in 140.3 overs (Ramiz Aziz 119 not out, Imran Farhat 64, Ahmed Shehzad 54, Yamin Ahmadzai 30 not out, Imam-ul-Haq 26, Azeem Ghumman 23, Jamal Anwar 21, Abdur Rehman 20; Abdul Ameer 3-116, Mohammad Sami 2-57, Basit Ali 2-107).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE BLUES 266 in 117.4 overs (Waqas Saleem 122, Raza Ali Dar 74, Mohammad Ikhlaq 30; Zafar Gohar 6-80, Zia-ul-Haq 2-43, Shoaib Malik 2-53) and 67-2 in 22 overs (Mohammad Ikhlaq 23 not out; Zia-ul-Haq 2-18); SSGC 423 in 114.3 overs (Asif Zakir 128, Awais Zia 78, Shoaib Malik 74, Adil Amin 47, Fawad Alam 35, Aamir Yamin 21, Zafar Gohar 21; Saad Nasim 3-72, Haider Ali 3-102, Bilawal Iqbal 2-85).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi (day-night fixture): WAPDA 504 in 142.4 overs (Kamran Akmal 103, Khalid Usman 96 not out, Mohammad Saad 94, Salman Butt 76, Zahid Mansoor 46, Adnan Raees 34; Imad Wasim 4-90, Hasan Ali 2-101); ISLAMABAD 156 in 55 overs (Shahid Yousuf 55, Raheel Majeed 46; Waqas Maqsood 5-35, Khalid Usman 2-32, Mohammad Asif 2-51) and 225-5 in 71 overs (Ali Sarfraz 51, Imad Wasim 50 not out, Shahid Yousuf 42, Zohaib Ahmed 37 not out; Mohammad Asif 2-19, Zahid Mansoor 2-58).

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: UBL beat Peshawar by nine wickets.

PESHAWAR 311 in 90.3 overs (Ashfaq Ahmed 75, Israrullah 67, Mehran Ibrahim 49, Akbar Badshah 46; Sameen Gul 3-43, Zohaib Shera 2-60, Karamat Ali 2-72) and 109 in 30.4 overs (Mehran Ibrahim 33, Ashfaq Ahmed 26; Sameen Gul 5-40, Zohaib Shera 2-31); UBL 320 in 94.2 overs (Hammad Azam 78, Karamat Ali 48, Umar Siddique 35, Sadaif Mehdi 35, Akbar-ur-Rehman 33, Sharjeel Khan 28, Shan Masood 26; Taj Wali 3-82, Nasir Ahmed 3-99, Israrullah 2-17) and 103-1 in 19.3 overs (Sharjeel Khan 82 not out).

Pool ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: KRL beat Karachi Whites by 149 runs.

KRL 145 in 56.2 overs (Zulfiqar Jan 57 not out, Saeed Anwar Jr 30, Abdul Rehman Muzammil 23; Tabish Khan 3-50, Maroof Aziz 3-51, Raza-ul-Hasan 2-4, Faraz Ali 2-22) and 237 in 62 overs (Sardar Hasan 72, Nayyar Abbas 47, Mohammad Abbas 40; Tabish Khan 5-53, Raza-ul-Hasan 2-37, Faraz Ali 2-50); KARACHI WHITES 77 in 30.5 overs (Mohammad Hasan 24; Mohammad Abbas 6-47, Sadaf Hussain 4-26) and 156 in 54.5 overs (Shahzaib Hasan 52, Ahmed Iqbal 22, Faraz Ali 20; Mohammad Abbas 8-46, Nayyar Abbas 2-49).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: LAHORE WHITES 367 in 106 overs (Anas Mahmood 147, Farhan Khan 68 not out, Gohar Hafeez 54, Umaid Asif 43; Imran Khalid 4-80, Manzoor Khan 3-97, Imran Ali 2-76) and 39-0 in 16 overs (Anas Mahmood 24 not out); SNGPL 545-9 declared in 132 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 167, Adnan Akmal 107, Hussain Talat 69, Mohammad Hafeez 62, Iftikhar Ahmed 41, Imran Butt 27; Qaiser Ashraf 3-133, Nasir Ali 3-134, Mohammad Waheed 2-43).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: FATA 237 in 62.5 overs (Fawad Khan 65, Asif Afridi 58, Mohammad Naeem 24, Mohammad Irfan 20; Tahir Khan 3-33, Ali Imran Pasha 3-47, Anwar Ali 2-48, Aizaz Cheema 2-57) and 342 in 93.2 overs (Mohammad Naeem 96, Khushdil Shah 46, Fawad Khan 41, Abdul Aziz 41, Asif Ali 40, Saleemullah Burki 31; Ali Imran Pasha 4-61, Tahir Khan 3-97, Aizaz Cheema 2-50); PIA 235 in 76.5 overs (Anwar Ali 52, Faisal Iqbal Kamran Sajid 40, Najaf Shah 40; Irfanullah Shah 5-49, Saad Altaf 4-91) and 33-2 in 12 overs (Irfanullah Shah 2-6).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: RAWALPINDI 266 in 89.2 overs (Sarmad Hameed 85, Umar Waheed 68, Sohail Tanvir 34, Aaqib Shah 24; Altaf Ahmed 4-69, Mohammad Irfan 3-83, Atif Jabbar 2-49) and 197-7 in 65 overs (Sohail Tanvir 40 not out, Naved Malik 38, Aaqib Shah 26; Mohammad Irfan 4-61, Altaf Ahmed 3-31); NBP 253 in 94 overs (Naved Yasin 62, Rameez Raja 52, Faizan Khan 43, Qaiser Abbas 26, Usman Salahuddin 21; Sohail Tanvir 6-58, Ataullah 3-47).

Published in Dawn October 18th, 2016