KARACHI: Riding on brilliant centuries from Mohammad Taha and skipper Ram Ravi, Karachi Whites chalked up another emphatic win in the PCB Inter-region Under-19 One-day Cricket Championship on Monday when they whipped Dera Murad Jamali by 159 runs.

The playing arena at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi was virtually dominated by Taha and Ram as the duo came to their side’s rescue with a massive partnership of 250 after Karachi Whites had slumped to 33-3 in the eighth over following the decision of Dera Murad jamali’s skipper Fahad Hussain to field first.

Ram was dismissed by opposite number after making 116 off 126 balls with the help of 13 fours and one six but Taha was unstoppable as he hammered an undefeated 172 with his 145-ball knock containing 22 boundaries and one six as Karachi Whites collected 353-4 in their 50 overs.

Dera Murad Jamali succumbed to their fifth straight defeat when they were reduced to 194-9 in reply despite opener Usama Razzaq scoring a 117-ball 71 that included six fours.

Karachi Whites, who now lead Group ‘A’ with 10 points from five victories in six matches, are just two wins away from reaching the semi-finals.

Karachi Blues also celebrated a fifth success when they sealed a 60-run success against Fata here at the NBP Sports Complex to become outright leaders of Group ‘B’.

Opener Ashar Qureshi hit 76 off 109 balls with 10 fours to help his team post 231 all out in 47.4 overs after skipper Daniyal Naveed opted to bat first.

Fata had an answer to the spinning combination of off-spinner Mohammad Zahid (4-27 in 10 overs) and slow left-armer Daniyal (4-31 in 7.4) as they were dismissed for 171 in the 48th over.

Sialkot, Islamabad and Bahawalpur all maintained the pressure on Karachi Whites after each of them recorded their fourth victories in five fixtures.

Bahawalpur surprised Faisalabad by nine wickets at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, Sialkot recovered from 117-6 to wallop Azad Jammu Kashmir by 151 runs at Islamabad’s National Ground while Islamabad owed their 90-run win over Lahore Whites at the Diamond Club Ground to skipper Rohail Nazir’s 112-ball innings of 110 (13 fours and one six).

In a major upset here in Karachi, Quetta stunned fifth-round leaders Lahore Blues by a convincing margin of 109 runs at the UBL Sports Complex, while Multan stumbled to their fourth loss when Abbottabad won by six wickets at the National Stadium.

Rawalpindi, meanwhile, struggled to a three-wicket defeat of Larkana at the Landhi Gymkhana Ground to revive their last-four round aspirations.

Monday results:

Sixth round:

Group ‘A’:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Bahawalpur beat Faisalabad by nine wickets.

FAISALABAD 111 in 37.3 overs (Ali Qasim 24, Mohammad Awais Zafar 22; Mohammad Junaid 4-26, Ali Imran 3-27, Mohammad Naved Malik 2-13); BAHAWALPUR 114-1 in 23.2 overs (Ali Imran 50 not out, Sharjeel Ahmed 31).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: Karachi Whites beat Dera Murad Jamali by 159 runs.

KARACHI WHITES 353-4 in 50 overs (Mohammad Taha 172 not out, Ram Ravi 116); DERA MURAD JAMALI 194-9 in 50 overs (Usama Razzaq 71, Abdul Haq 22 not out, Shahzada Khan 21, Mohammad Shahid 21; Adil Ijaz 5-23, Syed Amin 2-34).

At National Ground, Islamabad: Sialkot beat Azad Jammu Kashmir by 151 runs.

SIALKOT 279 in 48.1 overs (Nabeel Arshad 77, Asad Ali 48, Ashir Mahmood 44, Farrukh Waqas 30, Momin Waqar 20; Najam Naseer 4-43, Zohaib Bukhari 2-62, Mohsin Iqbal 2-65); AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 128 in 39.3 overs (Moin Pervez 34, Nauman Ijaz 31, Hammad Islam 23; Ghulam Mohiuddin 3-15, Momin Waqar 3-39, Asad Ali 2-23).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Islamabad beat Lahore Whites by 90 runs.

ISLAMABAD 307-9 in 50 overs (Rohail Nazir 110, Haroon Wahid 60 not out, Mohammad Hammad 43, Inayat Ali 25; Hannan Zahid 5-55); LAHORE WHITES 217 in 45.1 overs (Saad Jamil 64, Faisal Ali 38, Hashim Ibrahim 36; Haroon Wahid 2-20, Abu Hurraira 2-29, Mohammad Hammad 2-29).

Group ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Abbottabad beat Multan by six wickets.

MULTAN 176 in 50 overs (Ali Nawaz Bhatti 74, Mohammad Alamgir 24; Aftab Afzal 2-16, Hamza Khan 2-38); ABBOTTABAD 177-4 in 35.3 overs (Khayyam Khan 80 not out, Abrar Ahmed 38 not out, Mohammad Arif 38).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Quetta beat Lahore Blues by 109 runs.

QUETTA 217-9 in 50 overs (Mudassar Irshad 47, Israr Ahmed 43, Rasheed Ahmed 28, Hidayatullah 25, Mohammad Hussain 24; Ahmed Jalil 4-39, Rizwan Siddique 3-41); LAHORE BLUES 108 in 29.1 overs (Mohammad Saleem 37, Zaid Alam 24; Mohammad Hussain 4-20, Mohammad Ajmal 3-18, Mohammad Asghar 2-32).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Karachi Blues beat Fata by 60 runs.

KARACHI BLUES 231 in 47.4 overs (Ashar Qureshi 76, Daniyal Naveed 34 not out, Haider 27, Afnan Karim 22; Umar Khan 2-20, Shahenshah Afridi 2-55); FATA 171 in 44.4 overs (Hamza Khan 60, Mohammad Khayyam 37; Mohammad Zahid 4-27, Daniyal Naveed 4-31, Ashar Qureshi 2-36).

At Landhi Gymkhana Ground, Karachi: Rawalpindi beat Larkana by three wickets.

LARKANA 198 in 48.5 overs (Uzair Ata 57, Meer Mohammad 40, Ashfaq Ahmed 36; Farhan Shafiq 3-30, Imran Khan 3-42); RAWALPINDI 200-7 in 48.1 overs (Wahidullah Khan 50, Haider Ali 40, Zaid Khan 26, Imran Khan 22 not out; Abdul Fatah 4-25, Nadir Ali 2-38).

Published in Dawn, May 09th, 2017