KARACHI: Sindh were left with the challenging task of scoring 338 on Thursday night in order to qualify for the Cool & Cool presents QMobile Pakistan Cup final after another Umar Amin century at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi guided Punjab to their highest total of the tournament.

After badly faltering in earlier outings, bottom-placed Punjab had virtually nothing to lose when Sindh captain Anwar Ali opted to bowl first at the toss in the must-win day/night clash with the hope his batsmen would be able to chase down whatever target to head into Saturday’s final against Balochistan.

Sindh must win against arch-rivals Punjab and case they stumble in this last of the preliminary-round fixtures then Federal Areas will go through after their awesome run chase against Balochistan late on Wednesday catapulted Imad Wasim’s charges into second position, just a point ahead of Sindh who currently have four.

Taking advantage of another placid track, local hero Umar Amin produced another high-class innings in front of the national selectors. The elegant left-hander, who hammered a career-best 156 against Balochistan in the opening match of the event on April 16, was in rampant mood as he hit 111 off only 99 deliveries with the aid of seven sixes and as many fours.

Coming to the wicket after Kamran Akmal (17) had been caught at deep square-leg by Saif Badar off Mir Hamza at the start of the sixth over, Umar soon lost Salman Butt (20 off 24 balls) by the time eighth over concluded.

After those early breakthroughs, Sindh were frustrated by a partnership of 100 in 111 balls between Umar Amin and Umar Akmal, the Punjab skipper who on Tuesday was picked in the Pakistan squad for the ICC Champions Trophy.

While the left-handed Umar went after the bowlers, particularly showing an apparent liking for the spin of Mohammad Nawaz and Usama Mir, Umar Akmal employed a circumspect approach. He negotiated 53 balls for his 36 runs and hit only a brace of boundaries before flicking Hamza to deep midwicket where Saif poached a wonderful catch.

Umar, who hoisted Nawaz for a six to complete 50 off 56 balls, brought up his seven one-day ton in 88 deliveries and was dismissed by leg-spinner Usama while trying another big shot in the 37th over.

After Umar departed, all-rounders Bilal Asif and Khushdil Shah raised the tempo by sharing a breezy stand of 80 in 64 balls when the left-handed Khushdil became Hamza’s fourth wicket, caught at midwicket for 27-ball 32 that included three fours and one six.

Bilal, the 31-year-old from Sialkot who played three One-day Internationals in 2015, thrashed four sixes and a four in 42-ball knock of 55 until he saw Saif hold his fourth catch of the innings.

Fahim Ashraf, the all-rounder who is also in the Champions Trophy squad, further tormented Sindh by bludgeoning three sixes, including one with a short-arm jab that sail over long on.

Rumman Raees Khan, the Pakistan T20 left-arm paceman, restored parity with three wickets at the death to emerge as the best bowler with 3-46 in 10 overs while fellow left-armer Hamza conceded 70 runs for his four wickets.

Nawaz was disappointing with figures of 0-75 in 10 overs and fellow Pakistan discard Anwar Ali also went wicketless.

Scoreboard

PUNJAB:

Kamran Akmal c Saif b Hamza 17 Salman Butt c Hasan b Hamza 20 Umar Amin b Usama 111 Umar Akmal c Saif b Hamza 36 Nasir Nawaz c Saif b Asif 13 Bilal Asif c Saif b Rumman 55 Khushdil Shah c Asif b Hamza 32 Fahim Ashraf c Akbar b Rumman 30 Raza Ali Dar not out 3 Zulfiqar Babar b Rumman 0

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-4, W-8, NB-4) 20

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 337

FALL OF WKTS: 1-28, 2-39, 3-139, 4-193, 5-214, 6-294, 7-296, 8-337, 9-337.

DID NOT BAT: Arsal Shaikh.

BOWLING: Anwar Ali 9-0-66-0 (3w); Mir Hamza 10-0-70-4; Usama Mir 8-0-55-1 (1w); Rumman Raees Khan 10-1-46-3 (3nb, 3w); Mohammad Nawaz 10-0-75-0 (1nb, 1w); Asif Zakir 3-0-17-1.

SINDH: Khurram Manzoor, Asif Zakir, Akbar-ur-Rehman, Fawad Alam, Saif Badar, Mohammad Nawaz, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Hasan, Usama Mir, Rumman Raees Khan, Mir Hamza.

UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza and Riazuddin.

TV UMPIRE: Shozab Raza.

MATCH REFEREE: Aziz-ur-Rehman.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2017