KARACHI: Karachi Whites and Karachi Blues moved in the right direction on Saturday after both cantered to comprehensive victories in their PCB Inter-region Under-19 One-day Cricket Championship fixtures.

Karachi Whites were too good for the previously undefeated Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital as they displaced them from the top spot in Group ‘A’ with a 115-run success.

After skipper Ram Ravi opted to bat first, opener Umair Yousuf produced a scintillating knock of 149 to inspire Karachi Whites to 313-8 in 50 overs. Umair’s 141-ball contribution was embedded with 16 boundaries and a brace of sixes.

Islamabad’s response to the big chase fizzled out disappointingly at 198 in the 47th over despite Rohail Nazir playing a captain’s innings of 91 (off 97 balls, eight fours and one six).

Paceman Mohammad Ali Khan caused most damage with three wickets for 52 runs in 10 overs.

Karachi Whites’ fourth win leaves them heading the pool with eight points, two ahead of Islamabad who have played four matches thus far.

Karachi Blues annihilated the hapless Quetta by a huge margin of 216 runs here at the UBL Sports Complex to record their fourth victory in Group ‘B’.

Quetta captain Hidayatullah was left to rue his decision to bowl first upon winning the toss as Imran Shah and Ashar Qureshi shared a brilliant opening partnership of 164 inside the first 29 overs.

Imran led the onslaught with 144 from 132 deliveries while hitting 17 fours and three sixes with his partner Ashar scoring 70 (off 90 balls, 10 fours and one six) as Karachi Blues eventually ended up reaching 301-8.

Off-spinner Abdul Nasir (4-54 in 9 overs) and left-arm paceman Mohammad Asghar (3-43 in 10) shared the bowling honours.

Quetta, in reply, lasted just 17 overs at the crease as they were bundled out for 85. After paceman Izhar Gul (3-29) had taken care of the top order, the left-arm spin duo of Nadir Shah (4-21) and skipper Daniyal Naveed (2-14) completed the demolition act.

Lahore Blues were also on song as the Group ‘B’ leaders decimated Rawalpindi by eight wickets at the National Stadium. The highlight being the unfinished stand of 132 between Uzair Nasir (54) and Mohammad Saleem (76) as Lahore Blues chased down 171 with more than 14 overs to spare.

But Lahore Whites were at the receiving end in the other pool when Faisalabad earned a six-wicket win at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Saturday’s results:

Fifth round:

Group ‘A’:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Faisalabad beat Lahore Whites by six wickets.

LAHORE WHITES 196 in 49 overs (Hashim Ibrahim 40, Abiyaz Rizvi 30, Aresh Khan 28, Fahad Munir 22, Mohammad Umar Jr 21; Suleman Shafqat 3-34, Shaur Ahmed 2-26, Usama Javed 2-33); FAISALABAD 200-4 in 47 overs (Ali Qasim 77 not out, Awais Zafar 50, Mohammad Awais 34 not out; Fahad Munir 3-40).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: Sialkot beat Dera Murad Jamali by four wickets.

DERA MURAD JAMALI 143 in 41.4 overs (Usama Razzaq 56, Abid Ali 25 not out; Asad Ali 4-26, Momin Waqar 3-20); SIALKOT 146-6 in 32.5 overs (Momin Waqar 60, Mohsin Riaz 25, Abdullah Shafiq 20; Saeed Ahmed 3-17).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Karachi Whites beat Islamabad by 115 runs.

KARACHI WHITES 313-8 in 50 overs (Umair Yousuf 143, Mohammad Taha 43, Sufyan Khan 38, Jahanzeb Sultan 29; Musa Khan 2-34); ISLAMABAD 198 in 46.3 overs (Rohail Nazir 91, Abu Hurraira 45, Ahmed Shabbir 20; Mohammad Ali Khan 3-52, Arish Ali Khan 2-30, Mohammad Taha 2-48).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: Hyderabad beat Azad Jammu Kashmir by five wickets.

AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 194 in 49.1 overs (Hammad Islam 41, Zohaib Bukhari 35, Moin Pervez 26, Shahid Ahmed 21; Mohammad Aizaz 4-35, Saad Khan 2-39, Mohammad Suleman 2-41); HYDERABAD 1955 in 46.3 overs (Mohammad Suleman 89, Uzair Jafri 49; Zohaib Bukhari 3-47, Usama Fazil 2-49).

Group’ B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Lahore Blues beat Rawalpindi by eight wickets.

RAWALPINDI 170 in 45.5 overs (Hasnain Ahmed 32, Mohammad Jagir 30, Haider Ali 25, Nasir Nawaz 21, Wahidullah Khan 20; Rizwan Siddique 2-30, Mohammad Suleman 2-44); LAHORE BLUES 171-2 in 35.1 overs (Mohammad Saleem 76 not out, Uzair Nazir 54 not out; Farhan Shafiq 2-34).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Karachi Blues beat Quetta by 216 runs.

Karachi Blues 301-8 in 50 overs (Imran Shah 144, Ashar Qureshi 70, Arsalan Wasim 31; Abdul Nasir 4-54, Mohammad Asghar 3-43); QUETTA 85 in 17 overs (Abdul Wahid Bangash 16; Nasir Shah 4-21, Izhar Gul 3-29, Daniyal Naveed 2-14).

At TMC Ground, Karachi: Fata beat Abbottabad by 40 runs.

FATA 211 in 49.4 overs (Hamza Khan 48, Abdul Rahim 31, Shahenshah Afridi 27; Basit Khan 3-33, Hamza Khan 2-38, Arshad Iqbal 2-49); ABBOTTABAD 171 in 45.2 overs (Danish Sarhadi 46, Khayyam Khan 34, Anees Azam 30; Umar Khan 3-18, Shahenshah Afridi 3-35).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Peshawar beat Multan by nine wickets.

MULTAN 135 in 46.1 overs (Asjar Ashfaq 26, Ali Raza 24; Shehzad Khan 4-29, Waqar Ahmed 3-23, Zaidullah 3-27); PESHAWAR 136-1 in 22.5 overs (Mohsin Khan 58 not out, Waqar Ahmed 37, Mukhtiar Ahmed 30 not out).

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2017