KARACHI: Fakhar Zaman celebrated his inclusion in the Champions Trophy squad with a dazzling century as Balochistan amassed 375-7 against Federal Areas in the Cool & Cool presets QMobile Pakistan Cup match at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

The stylish left-hander, who is leading Balochistan in the ongoing competition, continued his prolific run by hammering 104 off just 81 balls after scoring half-centuries in all three previous fixtures.

Already through to Saturday’s final, Balochistan batsmen went on the rampage from the moment Fakhar opted to bat first. The first 10-over Powerplay yielded 59 runs. By the 20th over Balochistan had advanced to 139-1 before reaching the 30-over mark at 211-2. They had moved to 269-3 before pressing the accelerator to garner 106 runs from the last 10 overs of their impressive innings.

Fakhar led the charge from the onset and was severe on the discarded Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Khan in the second over of the match. After a dot ball, the remaining five went for boundaries. The 27-year-old followed up scores of 62, 59 and 73 by registering his sixth one-day hundred, which was embedded with 15 boundaries and two sixes.

Fakhar’s opening partner Sahibzada Farhan also carried on his excellent form with a fourth successive half-century as the duo shared their second straight 100-plus partnership.

Farhan, the 21-year-old right-hander from Charsadda, hit 54 this time to follow knocks of 53, 54 and 58. For the fourth game running the Fakhar-Farhan alliance sailed past the 80-plus mark.

Having put on 88 against Punjab in the opening match of the tournament, 95 versus Sindh and 116 against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the pair bettered their previous stands by putting on 119 in 106 deliveries, Farhan was dismissed by spinner Mohammad Irfan after having adorned his 50-ball innings with six fours and one six.

Sohaib Maqsood helped Fakhar add 69 for the second wicket when the skipper fell to his Federal Areas counterpart Imad Wasim in the 27th over.

Sohaib, another batsman who seems to have lost faith of the national selectors, struck a 43-ball 42 with the aid of two fours and one six before Irfan sent him back to the pavilion.

Agha Salman, promoted to gain batting practice for the title-decider, made 52 from 44 balls while hitting four fours and one six as and Taimur Khan, who was making his first appearance of this event, put on 71 in 62 balls.

Taimur hoisted three sixes and hit a four in a 45-ball 42 before Rameez Aziz (39 off 20 balls, three fours and two sixes) and Bismillah Khan (20 off 9, four boundaries) combined in an electrifying partnership of 55 in just 22 balls.

Imad bowled superbly in the face of onslaught to finish with tidy figures of 1-39 in 10 overs but Sohail and Ehsan Adil were scantly treated as their combi­ned 17 overs cost 163 runs with Sohail taking 2-83 in nine overs and Ehsan 2-80 from eight.

Mathematically, Federal Areas are still in the running for the final provided they end Balochistan’s unbeaten run thus far by reaching the highest total of the competition. But if they lose here then Sindh will go through regardless of the result of Thursday’s last league-round clash with bottom-placed Punjab.

Scoreboard

BALOCHISTAN:

Fakhar Zaman c Hassaan b Imad 104

Sahibzada Farhan c Sohail b Irfan 54

Sohaib Maqsood c Ehsan b Irfan 42

Agha Salman c Abid b Ehsan 52

Taimur Khan c Haris b Sohail 42

Aamir Yamin c Sami b Sohail 8

Rameez Aziz not out 39

Sohail Tanvir c Irfan b Ehsan 5

Bismillah Khan not out 20

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-4) 9

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 50 overs) 375

FALL OF WKTS: 1-119, 2-188, 3-225, 4-296, 5-307, 6-312, 7-320.

DID NOT BAT: Azizullah, Hamal Wahab.

BOWLING: Imad Wasim 10-1-35-1; Sohail Khan 9-0-83-2 (1w); Mohammad Hafeez 7-0-51-0; Ehsan Adil 8-0-80-2 (3w); Hassaan Khan 9-0-63-0; Mohammad Irfan 7-0-58-2.

FEDERAL AREAS: Sami Aslam, Abid Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Hussain Talat, Imad Wasim, Zohaib Ahmed, Hassaan Khan, Sohail Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Ehsan Adil.

UMPIRES: Khalid Mahmood and Shozab Raza.

TV UMPIRE: Asif Yaqoob.

MATCH REFEREE: Aziz-ur-Rehman.

THURSDAY’S FIXTURE: Sindh vs Punjab (4:00pm PST)

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2017