KARACHI: United Bank Limited (UBL) continued their ruthless demolition of regional outfits in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship when they annihilated Fata by innings and 130 run in Sialkot on Wednesday.

After having crushed Karachi Whites and Rawalpindi by similar margins in their opening two fixtures, Fata met the same fate at the Jinnah Stadium as UBL needed just 12.1 overs to claim the remaining seven second-innings wickets for 37 runs.

Resuming At 51-3, Fata virtually had no answer to the fiery Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Khan who captured five wickets for 12 runs in 9.1 overs to send them reeling for 88 all out.

UBL comfortably top Group ‘B’ with maximum available 30 points with Habib Bank Limited (HBL) clinging onto their second place (28 points) after sealing a close 29-run victory over Lahore Whites at the LCCA Ground in Lahore.

Former Pakistan slow left-armer Abdur Rehman snared four wickets for 49 runs and rookie leg-spinner Israr-ul-Haq took 3-43 to help HBL dismiss Lahore Whites for 192 after the hosts began day three at 72-1 in pursuit of a 222-run chase.

Opener Rizwan Hussain, however, stood out for Lahore Whites with a defiant knock of 63.

Karachi Whites capitulated to their third successive defeat when Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) bowled them out for a measly 110 here at the UBL Sports Complex.

Barring ex-Pakistan right-hander Faisal Iqbal, who struck a fighting 66 of 117 balls with eight boundaries, the rest yet again flopped as the pace duo of Sadaf Hussain (3-36) and Ali Shafiq (3-49) shared six wickets between them.

Pakistan Television (PTV) faced tough resistance from hosts Rawalpindi — who rode on half-centuries from Karachi-based pair of Babar Hussain Agha (65 not out) and Behram Khan (52) to reach 265-8 in the second innings — at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

Earlier, PTV secured a slim six-run lead when they were all out for 257 after resuming their overnight first innings at 251-9. Paceman Ataullah claimed 7-92 in 29.1 overs

In the Group ‘A’ action, retired Pakistan stalwart Misbah-ul-Haq was out for a first-ball to his former team-mate Saeed Ajmal as Sui Northern Gas Pipelines batted all day to extend their Tuesday’s score of 25-0 to 272-8 against Faisalabad at the Iqbal Stadium.

But despite the skipper failing, Taimur Sultan stole the limelight by scoring 102 off 196 balls with 14 fours while sharing a first-wicket stand of 161 with Imran Butt (71).

Lahore Blues were 143-4 after Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) earned a handy first-innings lead of 114 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), meanwhile, endured another tough day when they struggled to 171-6 after Peshawar set them a challenging target of 345 at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.

Currently in a rebuilding phase, NBP are greatly missing several outstanding stars of recent seasons after the exodus of Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Hammad Azam, Sohaib Maqsood, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Asghar, Ahmed Jamal, Usman Qadir and now Usman Salahuddin, who resigned barely a week before start of the ongoing first-class season, to other departments and regions.

Earlier, Peshawar posted 334 in their second innings after starting the day at 187-3. Slow left-armer Raza Hasan picked up six wickets for 101 runs in 21 overs.

Close of play scores and results on Wednesday (day three of four):

Third round:

Group ‘A’:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: SNGPL 241 in 92.4 overs (Ali Waqas 58, Bilawal Bhatti 45 not out, Mohammad Rizwan 38, Misbah-ul-Haq 21; Ahmed Safi 4-66, Asad Raza 3-52, Ibtisam Sheikh 2-39) and 272-8 in 74.3 overs (Taimur Sultan 102, Imran Butt 71, Iftikhar Ahmed 34; Ahmed Safi 4-68, Saeed Ajmal 3-43); FAISALABAD 173 in 76.5 overs (Asif Ali 48, Hasan Mahmood 27; Imran Khalid 4-66, Bilawal Bhatti 3-31).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: LAHORE BLUES 291 in 88 overs (Saad Nasim 123, Irfan Haider 50, Salman Ali Agha 30, Zain-ul-Hasnain 29; Aamir Yamin 6-44, Zia-ul-Haq 2-55) and 143-4 in 57 overs (Raza Ali Dar 60 not out, Waqas Saleem 52; Azhar Attari 3-40); SSGC 405 in 97.1 overs (Fawad Alam 105, Aamir Yamin 72, Zain Abbas 46, Awais Zia 38, Mohammad Irfan 25; Bilawal Iqbal 4-78, Shahid Nawaz 3-72, Salman Ali Agha 2-71).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: PESHAWAR 264 in 63.2 overs (Jamaluddin 47, M. Imran Khan 32, Ubaidullah 29, Ashfaq Ahmed 28, Nasir Awais 26, Gohar Ali 25; Altaf Ahmed 6-57, Mohammad Ismail 2-68) and 334 in 66.3 overs (Ubaidullah 66, Sahibzada Farhan 51, Ashfaq Ahmed 37, Jamaluddin 36, Mehran Ibrahim 35, Gohar Ali 34, Israrullah 25; Raza Hasan 6-101, Altaf Ahmed 2-60); NBP 254 in 66.2 overs (Rameez Raja 150, Ali Asad 63; M. Imran Khan 4-76, Israrullah 3-18, Nasir Awais 2-48) and 171-6 in 55 overs (Ali Asad 44, Rameez Raja 28, Kamran Ghulam 25 not out; Nasir Awais 3-47, Taj Wali 2-28).

Group ‘B’:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: KRL beat Karachi Whites by 130 runs.

KRL 244 in 80.2 overs (Saeed Anwar Jr 74, Jaahid Ali 36, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 28; Hassaan Khan 3-41, Abdullah Mukaddam 3-58, Raza-ul-Hasan 3-61) and 97 in 32 overs (Usman Arshad 23; Abdullah Mukaddam 5-34, Faraz Ali 3-37, Mohammad Sami 2-14); KARACHI WHITES 101 in 44.3 overs (Faraz Ali 4; Ali Shafiq 5-31, Sadaf Hussain 3-38) and 110 in 47.5 overs (Faisal Iqbal 66; Sadaf Hussain 3-36, Ali Shafiq 3-49, Nauman Ali 2-0, Yasir Ali 2-20).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: HBL beat Lahore Whites by 29 runs.

HBL 194 in 67.3 overs (Azeem Ghumman 37, Abdur Rehman 35, Ramiz Aziz 28; Mohammad Irfan 4-49, Umaid Asif 3-46, Mohammad Aftab 2-41) and 98 in 28.1 overs (Fazal Subhan 45; Umaid Asif 6-28, Mohammad Irfan 4-18); LAHORE WHITES 71 in 34.5 overs (Israr-ul-Haq 2-3, Usman Khan Shinwari 2-7, Abdur Rehman 2-13, Ammad Butt 2-15) and 192 in 53.4 overs (Rizwan Hussain 63, Mohammad Irfan 26; Abdur Rehman 4-49, Israr-ul-Haq 3-43).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: UBL beat Fata by an innings and 130 runs.

UBL 361 in 110.3 overs (Gulraiz Sadaf 69, Saad Ali 67, Akbar-ur-Rehman 42, Hammad Azam 42, Mohammad Nawaz 39, Umar Siddique 34, Sohail Khan 32; Hafeez-ur-Rehman 5-76, Asif Afridi 3-84); FATA 143 in 43 overs (Asif Ali 41 not out; Sameen Gul 5-47, Sohail Khan 3-33) and 88 in 25.1 overs (Sohail Khan 5-12, Sameen Gul 2-18, Ehsan Adil 2-39).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: RAWALPINDI 251 in 68.2 overs (Ataullah 53 not out, Sarmad Hameed 52, Naved Malik 46, Umair Masood 45; Tabish Khan 4-59, Hasan Mohsin 3-49, Saud Shakeel 2-7) and 265-8 in 80 overs (Babar Hussain Agha 65 not out, Behram Khan 52, Umar Waheed 48, Sarmad Hameed 28, Naved Malik 26; Rizwan Akbar 3-54, Saud Shakeel 2-12, Mohammad Irfan 2-36); PTV 257 in 91.1 overs (Taimur Khan 73 not out, Adnan Mahmood 55, Faisal Khan 48; Ataullah 7-92, Abid Hasan 2-25).

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2017