KARACHI: UBL spinner Mohammad Asghar and wicket-keeper Umar Akmal appeal successfully against SNGPL’s Khurram Shehzad during the One-day Departmental Cup match at the UBL Sports Complex on Friday.—Tahir Jamal/White Star
KARACHI: UBL spinner Mohammad Asghar and wicket-keeper Umar Akmal appeal successfully against SNGPL’s Khurram Shehzad during the One-day Departmental Cup match at the UBL Sports Complex on Friday.—Tahir Jamal/White Star

KARACHI: Only the fear of peaking too soon could prevent United Bank Limited (UBL) from winning the One-day Cup Departmental Cup this year after Younis Khan’s charges marched into the semi-finals with a fifth straight league-round win here on Friday.

Pakistan discard Umar Akmal produced gem of a knock by striking 124 from just 87 deliveries as UBL comfortably surpassed Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL)’s equally competitive total of 293-6 with five wickets intact and as many as 34 balls to spare.

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt led Wapda to a three-wicket win against the high-flying PTV with a run-a-ball innings of 102 at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad.

Reigning champions Habib Bank Limited (HBL) were on the brink of elimination at the league stage when Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) had advanced to 175-4 in pursuit of a modest 213-run target at the SBP Sports Complex. But pace bowling all-rounder Ammad Butt rescued the holders with three crucial wickets at the backend of the chase as HBL sneaked home by only six runs.

Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) regained their composure after Wednesday’s loss against the unbeaten UBL with a commanding performance at the NBP Sports Complex where they won by nine wickets to hand National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to their fifth consecutive defeat.

SNGPL, who were asked to bat first by Younis at the toss, were tentative at the start and by the 22nd over, they had only 94 runs on the board. Test right-hander Asad Shafiq, not known for being aggressive when it comes to score at a good rate, faced 70 balls to make 49 (seven fours) at the top of the order.

Mohammad Rizwan, who promoted himself to open with Asad, never got going as he contributed 8 off 26 balls.

Khurram Shehzad scored 58 off 62 balls with four sixes and three fours but the impetus to the innings was provided by Iftikhar Ahmed (75 off 69 balls, four fours and three sixes) and Hussain Talat, who struck an unbeaten 59 off 48 balls (four fours and one six), as the pair put on 120 off 98 balls for the fifth wicket.

After striking two centuries in three unbeaten knocks, Shan Masood was overdue for a failure in game four two days ago and the Test opener did fall early when he mustered 15 against SSGC.

On Friday, the third ball of UBL innings from Test seamer Mohammad Abbas induced an inside edge and Shan was bowled for a duck. But despite all this, Shan still maintains an average of 161.50 in the ongoing event.

The stage was set for Umar Akmal to showcase the repertoire of breathtaking strokes he has. By the time UBL were 65-1 in the 10th over, Umar had reached a 27-ball 50 with seven fours and three sixes off seamer Samiullah Khan Niazi, two of them on successive balls.

Umar Siddique then made his namesake calm down to the extent that Akmal got to only his fifth List A century (in 182 matches) from 77 balls (14 fours and four sixes) before finally holing out to Asad at long off after having added five more fours to his tally.

Umar Siddique, in the meantime, had been trapped LBW for a 75-ball 73 (nine fours and two sixes) by slow left-armer Imran Khalid who broke the stand of 188 in 153 balls between the two Umars.

Sohaib Maqsood slammed a 45-ball 50 (four fours and three fours) before Younis (13) and Hammad Azam (8) finished off SNGPL.

Wapda overhauled PTV’s challenging total of 300 with one over to spare. The foundation was laid by Kamran Akmal (42 off 49, three sixes and three fours) and Salman, who struck nine boundaries during his 21st ton in 182 List A appearances. Only Saeed Anw­ar has scored more one-day centuries — 26 in 325 matches — to his name among Pakistani batsmen.

Skipper Saud Shakeel excelled with an 89-ball 94 (11 fours and one six) after Wapda put PTV into bat.

Wapda leapfrogged PTV into second spot in the standings with this fourth success ahead of their fascinating clash with UBL on Sunday.

And despite Ahmed Shehzad playing a captain’s innings of 82 (92 balls, nine boundaries), HBL struggled to 212-8 after KRL chose to bowl first.

Sardar Hasan Raza (50 off 71, two fours and two sixes) and Jaahid Ali (73 off 109, six fours) gave KRL the start they wanted — an opening partnership of 100 inside the first 24 overs.

HBL then started to pull things back by taking wickets frequently until Ammad delivered the coup de grace with superb return of 4-32 in 9.4 overs with fellow paceman Mohammad Bilal (2-48) and seasoned campaigner Abdur Rehman (1-33 in 10 overs) offering good support.

HBL, who began the tournament with a win against NBP before losing three on the trot, now lie in sixth spot with four points and just two must-win matches to play.

NBP’s miseries continued unabated when they were shot out for 120 in 32.4 overs once SSGC skipper Umar Amin decided that fielding would be the best option. Barring opener Ahsan Ali (44 off 46, seven fours), it was an abject surrender from NBP.

Sami Aslam (unbeaten 52 off 65, five fours and one six) and Umar (49 off 58, six boundaries) together strolled to 99 before the captain was dismissed. But SSGC were not to be denied as they surged into third place on net run-rate with them and PTV having collected six points thus far.

Results on Friday:

Fifth round:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: UBL bt SNGPL by five wickets.

SNGPL 293-6 in 50 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 75, Hussain Talat 59 not out, Khurram Shehzad 58, Asad Shafiq 49; Sadaif Mehdi 3-54, Mohammad Asghar 2-46); UBL 295-5 in 44.2 overs (Umar Akmal 124, Umar Siddique 73, Sohaib Maqsood 50; Imran Khalid 2-72).

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: HBL bt KRL by six runs.

HBL 212-8 in 50 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 82, Ramiz Aziz 34, Imran Farhat 31; Yasir Ali 3-30, Sadaf Hussain 2-48); KRL 206 in 49.4 overs (Jaahid Ali 73, Sardar Hasan Raza 50, Saif Badar 31; Ammad Butt 4-32, Mohammad Bilal 2-48).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: SSGC bt NBP by nine wickets.

NBP 120 in 32.4 overs (Ahsan Ali 44; Usama Mir 3-21, Fawad Alam 2-31); SSGC 122-1 in 22.4 overs (Sami Aslam 52 not out, Umar Amin 49, Awais Zia 20 not out).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: Wapda bt PTV by three wickets.

PTV 300 in 49.5 overs (Saud Shakeel 94, Nihal Mansoor 49, Shahid Ilyas 39, Taimur Khan 38, Mohammad Yasin 21; Wahab Riaz 3-52, Zahid Mansoor 2-24, Mohammad Asif 2-46); Wapda 301-7 in 49 overs (Salman Butt 102, Aamir Sajjad 54, Kamran Akmal 42, Khushdil Shah 23, Mansoor Amjad 21; Mohammad Irfan 3-78).

Sunday’s fixtures:

UBL vs Wapda (UBL Sports Complex, Karachi); HBL vs SSGC (SBP Sports Complex, Karachi); KRL vs PTV (NBP Sports Complex, Karachi); SNGPL vs NBP (Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad).

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2018

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