KARACHI: Fakhar Zaman underlined his immense potential with a brilliant century as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reached 311-9 against Punjab in the final of the Cool & Cool presents Haier Pakistan Cup one-day cricket tournament in Faisalabad on Sunday.

The 26-year-old left-hander from Mardan, who began his cricket career in Karachi before moving to his hometown, was the cornerstone of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s batting with a flawless 115 after Punjab captain Shoaib Malik had called incorrectly at the toss after the returning Younis Khan had flicked the coin.

Fakhar and Ahmed Shehzad — the top two run-getters in the tournament with 297 and 372, respectively — continued their brilliant camaraderie at the top of the order with fourth 50-plus partnership in five matches. Following on the heels of their 176-run partnership against Sindh, Shehzad and Fakhar added 118 inside the first 16 overs while taking advantage of a batting strip at the Iqbal Stadium.

The 24-year-old, who had come into the final with scores of 31, 57, 79 and 143 (last two as stand-in skipper when Younis had pulled out in protest) in the competition, dominated early play with a stroke-filled knock of 62 from 45 deliveries with seven boundaries and two sixes.

It took an excellent delivery from slow left-armer Kashif Bhatti to break the impressive beginning to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa innings when Mohammad Rizwan brought off a brilliant stumping to get rid of Shehzad. TV umpire Asif Yaqoob took a while in giving the opener in what was a superb piece of adjudication from the official.

Zohaib Khan was elevated as Younis decided to hold himself back. But the all-rounder didn’t do much as he made 12 from 27 balls before being caught by Ammad Butt off Malik.

Fakhar, meanwhile, as moving serenely towards his fourth one-day hundred which duly arrived in the 31st over when drove Malik wide of long-off after surviving a vociferous shout for caught behind on the previous ball, much to Malik’s chagrin.

Ehsan Adil, who otherwise had a tough outing as the paceman’s 10- overs yielded 75 runs, claimed the key wicket of Fakhar in the 34th over when the left-hander top-edged a pull shot to midwicket where substitute Asif Ali held a good catch.

Fakhar’s 111-ball innings contained 11 boundaries and six each off Zulfiqar Babar, Malik and Kashif.

The rest of the innings revolved around Younis, who failed to register his 65th one-day half-century by a single run, until the former Pakistan captain was dismissed in the last over in which Ammad Butt picked up two wickets. Younis’s 59-ball contribution included just a solitary six off Kashif.

Fahim Ashraf scored a 37-ball 31 with three fours and one six while helping Younis put on 57 for the fourth wicket before falling to his Faisalabad team-mate Ehsan Adil.

Paceman Ammad Butt was Punjab’s most successful bowler with 3-55, Ehsan grabbed 2-75 and Aamir Yamin 1-49 in six overs. Malik snared one wicket for 34 runs in eight overs, Kashif 1-32 in six but Zulfiqar’s 10 overs cost 63 runs but no wicket.

Scoreboard

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA:

Ahmed Shehzad st Rizwan b Kashif 62 Fakhar Zaman c sub b Ehsan 115 Zohaib Khan c Ammad b Malik 12 Younis Khan c Shan b Ammad 49 Fahim Ashraf lbw b Ehsan 31 Musadiq Ahmed c Ammad b Aamir 19 Bismillah Khan c Saif b Ammad 5 Yasir Shah b Ammad 4 Sameen Gul run out 0 Mohammad Asghar not out 4

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-6, NB-1) 10

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 311

FALL OF WKTS: 1-118, 2-156, 3-208, 4-265, 5-288, 6-298, 7-305, 8-305, 9-311.

DID NOT BAT: Zia-ul-Haq.

BOWLING: Aamir Yamin 6-0-49-1 (1w); Ehsan Adil 10-0-75-2 (1nb, 1w); Zulfiqar Babar 10-0-63-0 (1w); Ammad Butt 10-0-55-3 (1w); Kashif Bhatti 6-0-32-1 (1w); Shoaib Malik 8-0-34-1 (1w).

PUNJAB: Shan Masood, Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwan, Saif Badar, Aamir Yamin, Ammad Butt, Kashif Bhatti, Zulfiqar Babar, Ehsan Adil.

UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza and Shozab Raza.

TV UMPIRE: Asif Yaqoob.

MATCH REFEREE: Musaddeq Rasool Khan.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2016