KARACHI: Balochistan have all but sealed their berth in the final of the Cool & Cool presents QMobile Pakistan Cup after clinching victory over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in a rain-hit fixture at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on Saturday night (partly reported in Sunday’s edition).

The game was decided under Duckworth-Lewis Method of calculations with Balochistan winning by four runs after their original target of 324 was revised to 209 from 36 overs. By the time the match concluded, the unbeaten Balochistan, who have now all three fixtures they played in the competition, had advanced to 212-3.

For the third time running, Balochistan benefited from another excellent partnership provided by the consistent opening duo of Sahibzada Farhan and skipper Fakhar Zaman.

Following in the footsteps of stands worth 88 against Punjab and 95 versus Sindh, the openers further impr­oved those landmarks by adding 116 in 112 balls with both posting half-centuries for the third consecutive innings.

Farhan brought up his 50 by smashing Iftikhar’s occasional off-spin for a huge six over wide long-on, but perished while trying to hit left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti after making 58 off 63 balls with the assistance of five fours and a brace of sixes.

Fakhar, who made his Pakistan debut during the recent Twenty20 Inter­national series win in the West Indies, registered a 16th half-century in his 46th List A appearance. The stylish left-hander fell to slow left-armer Zafar Gohar for a 69-ball 73 that included nine boundaries.

Pakistan discard Sohaib Maqsood utilized the chance to bat himself with an undefeated run-a-ball knock of 52, featuring five fours and one six when then the match came to a premature conclusion.

Earlier on Saturday, Khy­ber Pakhtunkhwa, who are defending their title, had posted 323-5 after opting to bat first. The highlight being discarded Pakistan batsman Iftikhar Ahmed’s undefea­ted knock of 138 from 129 deli­veries which contained half a dozen sixes and as many fours.

Scoreboard

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA:

Imran Butt run out 25

Mohammad Naeem b Salman 80

Iftikhar Ahmed not out 138

Mohammad Rizwan b Aamir 56

Adil Amin b Azizullah 9

M. Sami c Rameez b Azizullah 5

Zafar Gohar not out 3

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-1, W-5) 7

TOTAL (for five wkts, 50 overs) 323

FALL OF WKTS: 1-45, 2-172, 3-262, 4-284.

DID NOT BAT: Nabi Gul, Kashif Bhatti, Waqas Maqsood, Imran Khan.

BOWLING: Aamir Yamin 1-0-63-1 (3w); Azizullah 10-0-75-2; Ghulam Mudassar 10-0-54-0 (2w); Agha Salman 9-9-51-1; Khalid Usman

7-0-48-0; Fakhar Zaman 4-0-30-0.

BALOCHISTAN:

Sahibzada Farhan c Waqas b Kashif 58

Fakhar Zaman c Iftikhar b Zafar 73

Sohaib Maqsood not out 52

Saad Ali c Waqas b Zafar 6

Rameez Aziz not out 13

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-5) 10

TOTAL (for three wkts, 36 overs) 212

FALL OF WKTS: 1-116, 2-158, 3-184.

DID NOT BAT: Bismillah Khan, Agha Salman, Aamir Yamin, Khalid Usman, Azizullah, Ghulam Mudassar.

BOWLING: Mohammad Sami

8-0-42-0 (2w); Imran Khan 7-0-46-0 (1w); Waqas Maqsood 6-0-34-0 (1w); Kashif Bhatti 6-0-24-1; Iftikhar Ahmed 1-0-13-0; Zafar Gohar 8-0-48-2.

RESULT: Balochistan won by four runs (D/L Method).

UMPIRES: Shozab Raza and Riazuddin.

TV UMPIRE: Khalid Mahmood.

MATCH REFEREE: Mohammad Anees.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Fakhar Zaman.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2017