KARACHI: Discarded international Asad Ali starred with a six-for as defending champions SNGPL edged Karachi Whites by 25 runs in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship encounter at the UBL Sports Complex here on Monday.

In another notable three-day finish, Lahore Blues celebrated their first success in the championship when they surprised HBL in Faisalabad.

The fourth-round game fluctuated throughout from day one when 21 wickets stumbled on Saturday with both outfits heading into the third day with honours even as Karachi Whites began their quest for 246 at the overnight tally of 35-1.

The regional side had progressed nicely to 84-1 when SNGPL finally got the first wicket on Monday. But one dismissal immediately led to two more with Asad taking care of nightwatchman Azam Hussain (38 off 66 balls, five fours) and the obdurate opener Hamza Ghanchi (24 of 92 balls) while Bilawal Bhatti sent back Faraz Ali for a first-ball duck.

Behram Khan and Saad Ali weathered the storm until lunch by which time Karachi Whites had reached 125-4. But first ball after the interval, Saad (7) was caught down the leg side by discarded Test wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal off Asad.

Behram, however, held firm until Bilawal won a highly debatable LBW verdict from umpire Ghaffar Kazmi. The delivery seemed to clearly heading over the stumps at the point of impact.

Nonetheless, it was a splendid exhibition of batting under pressure from Behram, who made 41 from 61 balls with the aid of seven fours.

Tabish Khan joined Mohammad Hasan to rekindle Karachi hopes as the duo stitched a stand of 37 when Tabish (22) fell to Asad who then forced Hasan (38 off 59 balls) to attempt an unnecessary half-pull that lobbed to Adnan for his seventh catch of the match.

Asad finished with 6-60 from 18 overs and Bilawal three for 68 as SNGPL returned to top of Pool ‘B’ with their third victory.

HBL, meanwhile, suffered a shock six-wicket loss at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Resuming at 90-9, the bankers were all out for 116. Faced with a 168-run chase, Lahore Blues were shepherded home by skipper Saad Nasim, who blasted an unbeaten 53 off 37 balls, and opener Tayyab Tahir’s 49.

UBL closed gap on Pool ‘A’ leaders by cantering to a seven-wicket win against Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground. Out-of-favour Pakistan all-rounder Hammad Azam struck 65 to help UBL reach 370 from Sunday’s total of 270-6.

Left-arm pace and spin duo of Mir Hamza (6-49) an Mohammad Asghar (3-28) then sent Islamabad packing for 142 in second innings to leave their team needing a handful of runs for its third success.

Pool ‘A’ leaders Wapda were engaged in an engrossing battle with Peshawar at the Arbab Niaz Stadium after limping to 72-4 in pursuit of a 223-run target.

Left-arm seamer Waqas Maqsood (4-28) and returning ex-Pakistan star Mohammad Asif (4-33) combined to bowl out Peshawar for 129 in the second innings.

But two run-outs cost Wapda heavily, including that of captain Salman Butt, leaving their hopes of a fourth successive victory now resting on Adnan Raees (30) and Kamran Akmal (8).

Karachi Blues made spirited comeback after SSGC built a commanding 218-run lead on the first innings at the National Stadium by reaching 185-2.

Discarded Test opener Khurram Manzoor returned to form with scoring 86 off 143 balls with 11 boundaries, while adding 150 for the second wicket with Fazal Subhan, who is batting on 67.

Earlier, overnight pair of Asif Zakir and Shoaib Malik both completed centuries. Malik was dismissed for a blazing 99-ball 114 (16 fours sand three sixes) and Asif made 127 (243 balls, 14 boundaries) as the two added 156 for the fifth wicket.

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

Fourth round:

Pool ‘A’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: KARACHI BLUES 206 in 84.2 overs (Owais Ahmed Rehmani 68, Khalid Latif 32, Mohammad Sami 29, Fazal Subhan 27; Zia-ul-Haq 4-33, Shoaib Malik 2-31, Ahmed Iqbal 2-32, Aamir Yamin 2-48) and 187-2 in 47 overs (Khurram Manzoor 86, Fazal Subhan 67 not out); SSGC 424 in 118 overs (Asif Zakir 127, Shoaib Malik 114, Umar Amin 40, Zain Abbas 27, Zia-ul-Haq 24 not out, Fawad Alam 22; Basit Ali 3-120, Saud Shakeel 2-14, Abdul Ameer 2-91, Sohaib Khan 2-96).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: Lahore Blues beat HBL by six wickets.

HBL 170 in 63 overs (Fakhar Zaman 33, Umar Gul 33, Jamal Anwar 27 not out; Shahid Nawaz 3-38, Mohammad Aftab 3-43, Bilawal Iqbal 3-48) and 116 in 51.2 overs (Jamal Anwar 40, Imam-ul-Haq 24; Shahid Nawaz 4-30, Agha Salman 2-7, Mohammad Aftab 2-27, Bilawal Iqbal 2-40); LAHORE BLUES 119 in 47.4 overs (Saad Nasim 22; Umar Gul 5-39, Fahim Ashraf 3-40) and 169-4 in 35.1 overs (Saad Nasim 53 not out, Tayyab Tahir 49; Abdur Rehman 2-32).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: UBL beat Islamabad by seven wickets.

ISLAMABAD 275 in 88 overs (Shahid Yousuf 105, Mohammad Naqqash 42, Sarmad Bhatti 33, Raheel Majeed 23, Mohammad Naeem 21; Mir Hamza 5-55, Hammad Azam 2-28, Sameen Gul 2-35) and 142 in 44.3 overs (Raheel Majeed 55, Sarmad Bhatti 21, Hasan Ali 20; Mir Hamza 6-49, Mohammad Asghar 3-28); UBL 370 in 90.4 overs (Shan Masood 93, Akbar-ur-Rehman 80, Hammad Azam 65, Sohaib Maqsood 34; Sarmad Bhatti 3-49, Shehzad Azam Rana 3-93, Zohaib Ahmed 2-93) and 50-3 in 8.2 overs (Sharjeel Khan 30 not out; Shehzad Azam Rana 2-29).

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: PESHAWAR 273 in 93 overs (Israrullah 59, Akbar Badshah 56, Sahibzada Farhan 38, Ashfaq Ahmed 35, Sajid Khan 30 not out; Waqas Maqsood 4-42, Khalid Usman 3-49) and 129 in 59.2 overs (Akbar Badshah 35, Jamaluddin 33; Waqas Maqsood 4-28, Mohammad Asif 4-33); WAPDA 180 in 55.4 overs (Kamran Akmal 74, Ayaz Tasawwar 39, Mohammad Saad 20; Sajid Khan 5-50, Taj Wali 4-36) and 72-4 in 34.1 overs (Adnan Raees 30).

Pool ‘B’:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: SNGPL beat Karachi Whites by 25 runs.

SNGPL 128 in 41.5 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 48; Tabish Khan 5-23, Ghulam Mudassar 4-59) and 235 in 79.1 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 95, Iftikhar Ahmed 42, Bilawal Bhatti 25, Imran Butt 22; Babar Rehman 3-51, Ghulam Mudassar 3-55, Tabish Khan 3-88); KARACHI WHITES 118 in 23.2 overs (Shahzaib Hasan 61, Behram Khan 25; Azizullah 5-42, Bilawal Bhatti 3-19) and 220 in 60.1 overs (Behram Khan 41, Azam Hussain 38, Mohammad Hasan 38, Hamza Ghanchi 24, Tabish Khan 22; Asad Ali 6-60, Bilawal Bhatti 3-68).

At: LCCA Ground, Lahore: KRL 352 in 132 overs (Abdul Rehman Muzammil 96, Sardar Hasan Raza 93, Zulfiqar Jan 40, Shoaib Ahmed 38, Yasir Ali 24; Umaid Asif 3-73, Saif-ur-Rehman 2-60, Adnan Rasool 2-60, Qaiser Ashraf 2-77) and 123-4 in 38 overs (Sardar Hasan Raza 62 not out, Saeed Anwar Jr 24; Qaiser Ashraf 3-27); LAHORE WHITES 259 in 83.1 overs (Gohar Hafeez 44, Rameez Alam 43, Farhan Khan 41, Rizwan Hussain 36, Umaid Asif 36; Nayyar Abbas 4-85, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 2-35, Mohammad Abbas 2-50).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (day-night fixture): FATA 192 in 53.5 overs (Mohammad Naeem 67, Khushdil Shah 44; Mohammad Irfan 3-51, Altaf Ahmed 3-61, Atif Jabbar 2-55) and 363-4 in 106 overs (Asif Ali 118 not out, Khushdil Shah 101, Abdul Aziz 54 not out, Mohammad Naeem 45, Fawad Khan 35); NBP 527-8 declared in 104 overs (Ahsan Ali 200 not out, Qaiser Abbas 151 not out, Mohammad Irfan 52, Rameez Raja 46, Naved Yasin 26; Ahmed Asfandyar 2-84, Saad Altaf 2-98).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: RAWALPINDI 198 in 58 overs (Taimur Khan 90, Sarmad Hameed 29, Yasir Hameed 28; Salman Saeed 3-43, Aizaz Cheema 3-55, Anwar Ali 3-56) and 259-6 in 97 overs (Sarmad Hameed 100, Yasir Hameed 87, Naved Malik 22, Mukhtar Ahmed 20; Anwar Ali 2-63, Aizaz Cheema 2-65); PIA 276 in 90.2 overs (Shaharyar Ghani 97, Anwar Ali 75, Obaidullah 51; Mohammad Talha 5-83, Sohail Tanvir 2-13, Ataullah 2-59).

Published in Dawn October 25th, 2016

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