KARACHI: Stunned by his recent axing from the national team, Pakistan’s once-trusted strike weapon Mohammad Amir hit back at his critics in an emphatic manner by taking a five-for as Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) recorded a resounding victory in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship on Monday.

On the last day of the league-round phase, SSGC whipped Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) by an innings and 87 runs when the latter folded up for measly 154 in their second innings at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad where they had resumed play at 85-3, but lost the remaining wickets in a cluster in the space of mere 34 runs.

Amir, who found himself ignored for the impeding Twenty20 International series against Australia after being dropped from the Test side against Tim Paine’s team, claimed four of the seven wickets to fall on Monday before finishing with 5-55 in 16.3 overs. The left-armer had taken earlier 2-62 in the first innings to end up with match bag of 7-117.

By taking 10 points from their fourth win in the championship, SSGC retained their hold of the top place in Pool ‘B’ with a final tally of 45 points.

Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) also hung onto second spot despite suffering a rather shocking three-wicket defeat against Pakistan Television (PTV) at the Marghazar Cricket Ground in the federal capital. PTV, who were 136-5 overnight, duly got over the line at 227-7 with Umair Khan and young Hasan Mohsin both contributing 53 apiece in what was just second triumph for PTV this season.

Reigning champions Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) were guaranteed a No.1 finish in Pool ‘A’ when they bowled out Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) for 104 to clinch a thrilling win by 10 runs at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Former Pakistan captain Misbah-u-Haq defied the law of aging in a strong manner as the 44-year-old right-hander notched half century in both innings. He followed 66 on day one with a 76 from 112 deliveries with the aid of 12 boundaries as SNGPL reached 241 after starting off at 152-3.

Slow left-armer Nauman Ali snared five wickets for 55 runs but his heroics proved fruitless when southpaw Imran Khalid took 4-42 for the defending champions

The remaining two fixtures culminated in listless draws with Habib Bank Limited (HBL) taking three points at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium to edge past National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to seal the last available Super-Eight berth from Pool ‘A’.

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

Seventh round:
Pool ‘A’:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: Match drawn.

HBL 404 in 111 overs (Umar Akmal 129, Ramiz Aziz 69, Mohammad Waqas 57, Imran Farhat 54, Zohaib Khan 36 not out; Atif Jabbar 5-100, Ataullah 3-60, Hammad Azam 2-12) and 490-6 declared in 106.5 overs (Imran Farhat 128, Jamal Anwar 121, Saad Khan 112,Zohaib Khan 101 not out; Ataullah 3-77, Ali Manzoor 2-167); NBP 176 in 62.2 overs (Ali Asad 69, Hammad Azam 41, Qaiser Abbas 38; Khurram Shahzad 6-37, Umar Gul 3-47) and 120-4 in 33 overs (Kamran Ghulam 51 not out. Naved Sarwar 24, Rameez Raja 20; Abbas Afridi 2-15).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Match drawn.

ISLAMABAD 425 in 82 overs (Ali Sarfraz 102, Faizan Riaz 81, Rohail Nazir 75, Rizwan Ali 56, Arsal Sheikh 21; Nauman Anwar 5-30, Waqas Ahmed 4-143) and 190 in 33.1 overs (Ali Sarfraz 65, Shehzad Azam Rana 24, Faizan Riaz 23; Waqas Ahmed 4-46, Mohammad Irfan 4-60); LAHORE WHITES 465 in 144.5 overs (Ali Zaryab 112, Ali Rafiq 76, Usman Salahuddin 72, Ameer Hamza 56, Nauman Anwar 48,Mohammad Irfan 28; Shehzad Azam Rana 3-94, Mohammad Hamza Nadeem 3-144, Arsal Sheikh 2-56) and 69-2 in 14 overs (Ali Rafiq 34 not out, Zain-ul-Hasnain 25 not out).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: SNGPL beat KRL by 10 runs.

SNGPL 216 in 65.2 overs (Misbah-ul-Haq 66, Naeemuddin 40, Samiullah Khan Niazi 29, Bilawal Bhatti 25, Imran Khalid 20; Haris Asif 4-66, Sadaf Hussain 3-48, Ahmed Bashir 2-61) and 241 in 85.1 overs (Misbah-ul-Haq 76, Imran Butt 36, Raees Ahmed 30, Bilawal Bhatti 30, Khurram Shehzad 28; Nauman Ali 5-55, Ahmed Bashir 2-56); KRL 343 in 120.5 overs (Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 102 not out, Nauman Ali 53, Jaahid Ali 49, Usman Arshad 32, Sardar Hasan Raza 26; Azizullah 4-49, Samiullah Khan Niazi 3-65, Bilawal Bhatti 2-80) and 104 in 30.4 overs (Nauman Ali 27, Usman Arshad 21; Imran Khalid 4-42, Mohammad Imran 2-10, Samiullah Khan Niazi 2-11, Azizullah 2-35).

Pool ‘B’:

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: SSGC beat ZTBL by an innings and 87 runs.

ZTBL 269 in 98.3 overs (Anas Mustafa 75, Munir-ur-Rehman Tanzil 46, Aaqib Shah 36, Saadullah Ghauri 30, Haseeb-ur-Rehman 21; Azhar Attari 3-41, Zia-ul-Haq 3-58, Umar Amin 2-49, Mohammad Amir 2-62) and 154 in 50.3 overs (Raza Ali Dar 58, Munir-ur-Rehman Tanzil 26; Mohammad Amir 5-55, Azhar Attari 3-37, Umar Amin 2-20); SSGC 510-8 declared in 126 overs (Adil Amin 211 not out, Asif Zakir 88, Umar Amin 78, Sami Aslam 41, Mohammad Amir 22; Haseeb-ur-Rehman 6-101).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: PTV beat Wapda by three wickets.

WAPDA 289 in 65.4 overs (Bismillah Khan 75, Ayaz Tasawwar 58, Kamran Akmal 50, Ehsan Adil 29; Azharullah 5-96, Aamir Jamal 3-50) and 180 in 43.5 overs (Kamran Akmal 71, Salman Butt 30, Ayaz Tasawwar 24; Azharullah 5-79, Tabish Khan 4-64); PTV 245 in 76.3 overs (Mohammad Irfan Jr 73, Ali Khan 52, Faisal Khan 32, Adnan Mahmood 31, Umair Khan 30; Waqar Malik 4-62, Arshad Iqbal 3-60, Zulfiqar Babar 3-70) and 227-7 in 57.2 overs (Umair Khan 53, Hasan Mohsin 53, Nihal Mansoor 48, Aamir Jamal 37 not out; Ehsan Adil 4-45. Arshad Iqbal 2-46).

Final standings
(Tabulated under played, won lost, drawn, points):

Pool ‘A’

SNGPL 7 5 1 1 45
Peshawar 7 5 2 0 39
KRL 7 4 2 1 33
HBL 7 2 3 2 24
NBP 7 2 3 2 23
Fata 7 2 5 0 18
Lahore Whites 7 1 1 5 15
Islamabad 7 1 5 1 10

Pool ‘B’

SSGC 7 4 1 2 45
Wapda 7 4 2 1 34
Karachi Whites 7 3 1 3 34
Lahore Blues 7 3 4 0 27
Rawalpindi 7 3 3 1 21
PTV 7 2 4 1 18
Multan 7 2 3 2 16
ZTBL 7 2 5 0 15

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2018

Download the new Dawn mobile app here:

Google Play