KARACHI: The opening-round matches of the National One-day Cup for Regions in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Sunday saw curtailed action in three fixtures while the other game was abandoned with a ball being delivered.

The clash between Lahore Blues and Lahore Whites at the Marghazar Cricket Ground in the federal capital was washed out by overnight rain with both teams getting one point each.

According to sources, the doesn’t has proper covers to safeguard the pitch square and yet the PCB domestic cricket officials have allocated six matches to the ground without taking into account the fickle wintry weather.

While the Lahore teams were forced to remain indoors, Karachi outfits, Whites and Blues, were at least fortunate enough to be able to face other at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

In a fixture curtailed to 30-over affair after play began as late as 12:18pm, Karachi Whites skipper Khalid Latif promptly inserted the Blues into bat upon winning the toss.

The Whites dismissed Karachi Blues for 143 in 29.5 overs with only Khalid (40 off 63 balls, three fours and one six) and Owais Ahmed Rehmani (35 off 30, two boundaries) able to play significant knocks.

Left-handed spinning all-rounder Danish Aziz grabbed four wickets for 27 runs in 4.5 overs, while paceman Anwar Ali took 2-23 in his quota of six overs.

Upcoming wicket-keeper Mohammad Hasan excelled with five catches.

Karachi Whites had reached 121-5 in 25 overs when the match ended at 4:33pm owing to fading light, but since they were eight runs ahead of Karachi Blues at that point on the Duckworth-Lewis Method, they were declared winners.

Skipper Akbar-ur-Rehman played a fine hand of undefeated 54 with his 65-ball knock featuring three boundaries against a bowling line-up that included Sohail Khan and Mohammad Asghar the duo who had returned from Australia a couple of days after being part of Pakistan Test squad.

A whirlwind undefeated innings of 110 from opener Naved Malik inspired Rawalpindi to an eight-wicket drubbing of Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad.

After restricting Islamabad to 175-9 in 35 overs, Rawalpindi romped home thanks to Naved who blasted 14 boundaries and three sixes during his 86-ball effort.

Awais Zia (36 off 41 balls, five fours) helped Naved put on 67 for the first wicket before former Test batsman Yasir Hameed (22 off 38) partnered Naved in a partnership of exactly 100.

Earlier, left-arm fast bowler Sadaf Hussain excelled with 4-32 in seven overs after Rawalpindi skipper Sohail Tanvir elected to bowl first at the toss.

Abid Ali contributed 68 off 59 balls (four sixes and three fours) but no other Islamabad batsman played with freedom.

Peshawar began their campaign by outclassing the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) by six wickets in the televised game at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Discarded Pakistan pacemen Junaid Khan (4-31) and Imran Khan Jr (3-20) combined to dismiss Fata for 140 in 22.5 overs. Khushdil Shah scored a fighting 55 for the tribal men.

Test batsman Iftikhar Ahmed (48) and Israrullah (42) anchored the chase well as Peshawar got over the line in 22 overs.

Results on Sunday:

First round:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Peshawar beat Fata by six wickets.

FATA 140 in 22.5 overs (Khushdil Shah 55, Fawad Khan 31, Hussain Talat 21; Junaid Khan 4-31, Imran Khan Jr 3-20); PESHAWAR 152-4 in 22 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 48, Israrullah 42, Akbar Badshah 25 not out; Asif Ali 2-26).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: Karachi Whites beat Karachi Blues by eight runs (D/L Method).

KARACHI BLUES 143 in 29.5 overs (Khalid Latif 40, Owais Ahmed Rehmani 35; Danish Aziz 4-27, Anwar Ali 2-23); KARACHI WHITES 121-5 in 25 overs (Akbar-ur-Rehman 54 not out, Saad Ali 18; Adeel Malik 2-29).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: LAHORE BLUES vs LAHORE WHITES — match abandoned without a ball being bowled.

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Rawalpindi beat Islamabad by eight wickets.

ISLAMABAD 175-9 in 35 overs (Abid Ali 68, Sarmad Bhatti 22, Ahmed Shehzad 14; Sadaf Hussain 4-32, Sohaib Maqsood 2-33); RAWALPINDI 178-2 in 27.5 overs (Naved Malik 110 not out, Awais Zia 36, Yasir Hameed 22).

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2017