KARACHI: Ghulam Mudassar returned career-best figures of 7-52 while Tabish Khan ended up with a 10-wicket haul as Karachi Whites revived their campaign in Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship with a vital victory over Fata on Monday.

The sixth-round Pool ‘B’ fixture at the UBL Sports Complex was completed at 1:27pm — 47 minutes after lunch — on the penultimate day with Karachi Whites sealing a 92-run success to put themselves in contention for the Super Eight phase. They have 18 points after this second win in the championship earned them nine precious points.

Mudassar, the 17-year-old left-armer who was debuted into first-class cricket only last season, was completely changed man after a disappointing first innings when remained wicketless. Team doctor-cum-physiotherapist Dr Imtiaz Khan had a brief session of psychopathy with the youngster after stumps on day two as well before play began on Monday. Whatever transpired between them but it worked like magic as Mudassar left the Fata batting line-up shell-shocked in a sustained exhibition of pace bowling from the Pavilion End.

Tabish, who grabbed 7-56 on Sunday before finishing with match bag of 10-102 in 31.5 overs, started the debacle by cleaning up Fata skipper Fawad Khan (2) and trapping the promoted Rehan Afridi LBW first ball after the visitors resumed their chase for 213 at 4-0. The luckless Rehan had the ignominy of bagging a ‘pair’ after being dismissed in a similar fashion by the same bowler in the first innings.

After that double strike upfront, Mudassar took over to reach 50 wickets in 12 matches. By lunch he had claimed three wickets and got the demolition job completed after the break by taking four of the five wickets Fata lost for the addition of just 22 runs in 34 deliveries to be sent packing for 120.

Mudassar’s dismissal of Irfanullah Shah was simply breathtaking. The tall tailender slashed hard and the resultant edge was almost caught by wicket-keeper Mohammad Hasan but the Karachi White captain, who leapt two feet high, did brilliantly to parry the ball to second slip where Faraz Ali pouched the catch.

Tabish, who was hampered by a slight leg strain, fittingly took the final wicket, that of Mohammad Irfan, to pocket his fifth 10-wicket bag in first-class cricket.

The troubled Karachi Blues staged a belated comeback to set up an intriguing final day against Lahore Blues at the National Stadium. The hosts converted their overnight second-innings score of 139-3 into 286 all out with Saud Shakeel contributing 73 as he and Yasir Mushtaq (40) put on 98 for the sixth wicket.

Left with a 178-run target, Lahore Blues were 104-5 with their hopes now firmly pinned on Agha Saman, who is batting with 50. Seamer Adeel Malik followed up his 5-49 in the first innings with 4-27 thus far.

Kashif Bhatti slammed a second career century to inspire Rawalpindi’s splendid recovery against Lahore Whites at the LCCA Ground in Lahore. Replying to the hosts’ 190, Rawalpindi resumed at 171-7 but rode on the eighth-wicket stand of 116 between Kashif, who scored an unbeaten 128 off 270 balls (16 fours and one six), and Nazar Hussain (43) to post 298.

Seamer Asif Raza captured 6-57 in 27.2 overs before Lahore Whites, who trailed by 108, reached 71-3 at stumps.

UBL were in pole position to record their third win after HBL slumped to 123-6 in their second innings at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan. Earlier, UBL secured a 156-run lead on the first innings by posting 295 after resuming at 262-6.

NBP braced a tough chase against holders SNGPL after being reduced to 52-3 in pursuit of a 267-ru target at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

Earlier, NBP folded up for 157 to enable SNGPL enjoy a lead of 105 on the first innings. Bating again, SNGPL mustered 161 all out.

KRL experienced unexpected resistance from PIA at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha. PIA, who were heading for another three-day thrashing, defied odds to collect 271-5 after beginning their second innings at 25-2.

The saviours for the nation carrier were Fahad Iqbal (106 off 186 balls, 11 fours and one six) and Shoaib Khan (86 not out) who put on 117 after their side on the brink at 86-4.

Zahid Mansoor came to the rescue of Wapda with a career-high 179 not out (363 balls, 22 boundaries) in 455 minutes to inspire the Pool ‘A’ leaders to 332 in reply to SSGC’s 529-8 declared at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. Khalid Usman hit 66 while adding 122 for the sixth wicket with Zahid.

Lanky fast bowler Ahmed Jamal claimed 6-64.

In the day-night clash at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Islamabad were poised to take first-innings points when they amassed 460-6 while replying to Peshawar’s 472. Sarmad Bhatti and Faizan Riaz both struck centuries as they shared a fifth-wicket stand of 209 in 313 minutes after Islamabad began the day at 184-4.

Sarmad was still batting with a career-best 171 (322 balls, 22 fours), while Faizan was out for 103 (225 balls, 13 fours).

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

Sixth round:

Pool ‘A’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: KARACHI BLUES 153 in 36.4 overs (Adeel Malik 66, Khurram Shehzad 36; Bilawal Iqbal 4-48, Saad Nasim 2-18, Shahid Nawaz 2-25, Waqas Ahmed 2-58) and 286 in 82.1 overs (Saud Shakeel 73, Khurram Manzoor 58, Fazal Subhan 55, Yasir Mushtaq 40; Shahid Nawaz 3-45, Raza Ali Dar 2-22, Waqas Ahmed 2-47, Bilawal Iqbal 2-64); LAHORE BLUES 262 in 95.1 overs (Fahad-ul-Haq 75, Bilawal Iqbal 33, Waqas Saleem 32, Zain-ul-Hasnain 32, Agha Salman 27, Raza Ali Dar 21; Adeel Malik 5-49, Basit Ali 3-57, Mohammad Waqas Sr 2-25) and 104-5 in 30 overs (Agha Salman 50 not out; Adeel Malik 4-27).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (day-night fixture): PESHAWAR 472 in 142 overs (Israrullah 107, Sajid Khan 105, Ashfaq Ahmed 57, Gohar Ali 48, Mehran Ibrahim 46, Taj Wali 26, Akbar Badshah 22; Hasan Ali 4-121, Raheel Majeed 2-60); ISLAMABAD 460-6 in 139 overs (Sarmad Bhatti 171 not out, Faizan Riaz 109, Ali Sarfraz 41, Raheel Majeed 33, Zohaib Ahmed 32 not out; Sajid Khan 3-89).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: HBL 139 in 50.2 overs (Fahim Ashraf 29, Ammad Butt 26, Fakhar Zaman 20; Sameen Gul 8-44) and 123-6 in 58 overs (Azeem Ghumman 50, Imran Farhat 23; Hammad Azam 2-21, Sameen Gul 2-33); UBL 295 in 87.4 overs (Shan Masood 106, Hammad Azam 60, Sohaib Maqsood 42, Yasim Murtaza 31, Umar Siddique 25; Fahim Ashraf 4-79, Yamin Ahmadzai 2-39, Zohaib Khan 2-53).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: SSGC 529-8 declared in 125 overs (Asif Zakir 200 not out, Fawad Alam 92, Yasir Arafat 62, Saifullah Khan Bangash 54, Awais Zia 44; Mansoor Amjad 3-46); WAPDA 332 in 111.3 overs (Zahid Mansoor 179 not out, Khalid Usman 66; Ahmed Jamal 6-64, Tariq Haroon 3-67).

Pool ‘B’:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Karachi Whites beat Fata by 92 runs.

KARACHI WHITES 257 in 80.1 overs (Saad Ali 58, Hamza Ghanchi 47, Mohammad Asad 37, Babar Rehman 23; Saad Altaf 4-63, Irfanullah Shah 3-84) and 134 in 27.5 overs (Mohammad Hasan 33, Saad Ali 30, Faraz Ali 29; Mohammad Zeeshan Khan 4-19, Saad Altaf 4-59, Irfanullah Shah 2-48); FATA 179 in 51 overs (Mohammad Naeem 105, Mohammad Irfan 24; Tabish Khan 7-56, Azam Hussain 2-27) and 120 in 38.5 overs (Mohammad Naeem 31, Mohammad Irfan 31, Hasnain Khan 25; Ghulam Mudassar 7-52, Tabish Khan 3-46).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: SNGPL 262 in 76.5 overs (Taufiq Umar 69, Khurram Shehzad 63, Mohammad Hafeez 42, Imran Butt 22, Adil Akram 20 not out; Afaq Ahmed 4-86, Atif Jabbar 3-72, Qaiser Abbas 2-6) and 161 in 52.2 overs (Khurram Shehzad 34, Naeemuddin 29, Bilawal Bhatti 22, Imran Butt 20, Taufiq Umar 20; Atif Jabbar 4-41, Ali Manzoor 4-60, Qaiser Abbas 2-20); NBP 157 in 46.4 overs (Usman Salahuddin 40, Naved Yasin 22; Manzoor Khan 3-31, Imran Ali 3-42, Hussain Talat 2-24, Bilawal Bhatti 2-37) and 52-3 in 15.3 overs (Imran Ali 2-21).

At Sports Stadium, Sargodha: PIA 121 in 43.5 overs (Fahad Iqbal 62 not out, Shoaib Khan 26; Ahmed Bashir 4-32, Sadaf Hussain 3-32, Mohammad Abbas 2-25) and 271-5 in 88 overs (Fahad Iqbal 106, Shoaib Khan 86 not out, Shahzar Mohammad 28; Mohammad Abbas 2-50, Ahmed Bashir 2-52); KRL 339 in 95.2 overs (Nauman Ali 61, Saeed Anwar Jr 57, Abdul Rehman Muzammil 56, Junaid Ali 44, Sardar Hasan Raza 29; Tahir Khan 8-102).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE WHITES 190 in 85.2 overs (Asif Raza 46, Anas Mahmood 36, Qaiser Ashraf 30, Gohar Hafeez 27, Adnan Rasool 24; Abid Hasan 5-53, Nazar Hussain 2-39, Ataullah 2-47) and 71-3 in 27 overs (Gohar Hafeez 28, Rizwan Hussain 20; Nazar Hussain 2-9); RAWALPINDI 298 in 108.5 overs (Kashif Bhatti 128 not out, Nazar Hussain 43, Yasir Hameed 38, Zeeshan Malik 36; Asif Raza 6-57, Qaiser Ashraf 2-63).

Published in Dawn November 8th, 2016