KARACHI: A resolute Imran Shah century and dogged resistance from Kahaf Patel helped Karachi Blues lift the PCB Under-19 National Cricket Championship title after their final against Karachi Whites ended in a draw in Mirpur on Monday.

Karachi Blues opted to play safe rather have a tilt at the 283-run target when play resumed on the fourth and final day after they slumped to 76-3 on Sunday evening at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium.

Having made 410-6 in their first innings to Karachi Whites’ 341, the 69-run lead was enough for Karachi Blues to ensure Karachi Whites finish runners-up for the second straight championship after Rawalpindi won the trophy last season.

The overnight partnership between Imran and nightwatchman Kahaf was worth 116 before the opener was dismissed by slow left-armer Arish Ali Khan after scoring 102 from 193 balls in 246 minutes while hitting 14 fours and two sixes.

Incoming batsman Obais­ullah Khan came and went quickly when Umair Yousuf had him caught for one.

But that proved to the last breakthrough for Karachi Whites as Kahaf and Mohammad Zubair batted out together 140 minutes before play was called off.

Kahaf’s admirable 51 from 268 balls in a stay of 339 minutes with six boundaries was a decisive factor in denying Karachi Whites wickets they were looking for on the last day.

Zubair faced 114 balls for his innings of 28 (three fours and one six) while his unbroken stand with Kahaf yielded 49 runs.

Mohammad Makki didn’t add to his overnight tally as the paceman ended up with figures of 3-33 in 15 overs.

Ejaz Raza, director general of Mirpur Development Authority who was the chief guest at the post-match presentation, later distributed the prizes.

Karachi Blues skipper Daniyal Naveed collected the winners’ trophy and cash award of Rs600,000 while his Karachi Whites counterpart Ram Ravi received the runners-up trophy and Rs300,000.

Karachi Blues opener Waleed Khan, who scored 168 in the first innings, pocketed Rs25,000 after being adjudged man-of-the-match. His team-mate Ashar Qureshi got a similar cash prize for emerging as the highest wicket-taker in the championship. The leg-spinning all-rounder bagged 62 wickets.

Abbottabad captain Mohammad Arif was declared best batsman for his tally of 751 runs while the most outstanding cricketer award went to Islamabad captain Rohail Nazir (508 runs, 25 catches and two stumpings).

Scoreboard

KARACHI WHITES (1st Innings) 341 (Jahanzaib Sultan 125, Mohammad Taha 104, Sufyan Khan 32, Zaryab Khan 23; Ashar Qureshi 4-114, Daniyal Naveed 3-80, Ali Umar 2-56).

KARACHI BLUES (1st Innings) 410-6 (Waleed Khan 168, Haider Ali 101, Obaisullah Khan 46 not out, Ashar Qureshi 43 not out, Taha Mahmood 22; Mohammad Makki 2-76, Arish Ali Khan 2-125).

KARACHI WHITES (2nd Innings) 351 (Ram Ravi 137, Umair Yousuf 75, Syed Amin 70, Zaryab Khan 35; Kahaf Patel 5-89, Ashar Qureshi 3-87).

KARACHI BLUES (2nd Innings, overnight 76-3):
Waleed Khan lbw b Makki 21
Imran Shah c Taha b Arish 102
Taha Mahmood lbw b Makki 0
Haider Ali c Shahid b Makki 3
Kahaf Patel not out 51
Obaisullah Khan c Ali Khan b Umair 1
Mohammad Zubair not out 28

EXTRAS (B-10, LB-4, W-1, NB-3) 18
TOTAL (for five wkts, 102 overs) 224
FALL OF WKTS: 1-37, 2-37, 3-55, 4-171, 5-175.
BOWLING: Mohammad Ali Khan 7-1-39-0 (1w); Mohammad Makki 15-6-33-3; Arish Ali Khan 28-11-46-1; Mohammad Taha 16-10-16-0; Umair Yousuf 18-4-41-1 (3nb); Syed Amin 3-1-4-0.

RESULT: Match drawn — Karachi Blues win title on the first innings.
UMPIRES: Nadeem Ghauri and Saleem Butt.
MATCH REFEREE: Wasim Yousufi.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Waleed Khan.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2017