KARACHI: It happens once in a blue moon that one team loses and still makes it to the next phase while another wins and yet fails to qualify. That was exactly the script written in the One-day Dep­a­rt­mental Cup on Tuesday as Pakistan Television (PTV) edged out Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) in the frenetic race to complete the semi-final lineup.

Meanwhile, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) ceded their hold on the trophy on a gallant note as the dethroned champions suffered an agonizing four-run defeat against SNGPL in a vivacious last-round fixture that went down to the wire at the UBL Sports Complex.

As widely expected, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) drilled the final nail in the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP)’s coffin when a century from the returning Kamran Akmal powered Salman Butt’s side into the last-four stage at the NBP Sports Complex.

United Bank Limited (UBL), in the meantime, were in no mood at all to show Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) any mercy at the SBP Sports Complex where the title favourites warmed up for Thursday’s semi-final meeting with SSGC with a seventh successive success.

HBL dethroned in close finish

After heavy dew caused a 20-minute delay to the start of a 48-over per side clash, SNGPL nullified HBL’s advantage of fielding by posting 290-8 because of Asad Shafiq who churned out his second century on the trot — and seventh in 110 matches — while passing 4,000 List A runs.

In his typically elegant style, the diminutive Pakistan right-hander anchored the innings until he holed out to wide long-on boundary after striking 14 boundaries in a 135-ball knock of 119. On the way, Asad engineered SNGPL’s recovery from 25-3 to 232-6 when he departed.

Khurram Shehzad contributed an effervescent 53 off 45 balls with seven fours and two sixes off former Pakistan spinner Abdur Rehman, while adding 111 for the fourth wicket in 104 balls with Asad. The opener received good support from young left-hander Hussain Talat (58 off 51 balls, four fours and two sixes) as the pair combined to put on 72 in 75 deliveries for the sixth wicket.

SNGPL, who took the field after learning that SSGC were cruising toward victory against PTV at Hyderabad’s Niaz Stadium, needed to beat HBL by a substantial margin here to better PTV’s net run-rate. But they failed on both counts as Salman Afridi’s dazzling career-best 93 from 68 balls (16 fours and one six) inspired the outgoing champions to 286 all out in 47.4 overs after skipper Ahmed Shehzad (36 off 37, seven boundaries) fell to a fine low catch at short midwicket by Imran Khalid.

PTV, put into bat by SSGC, were undone by slow left-armer Kashif Bhatti’s excellent return of 4-29 in 10 overs as they stumbled to 194 all out in 46.2 overs after being 139-3 in the 30th over. Fawad Alam proved a good foil with 2-41 in 10 overs, including the scalp of PTV’s young captain Saud Shakeel.

Pakistan Test opener Sami Aslam’s ninth century — an undefeated 103 off 99 balls with seven fours and a brace of sixes — in 60 one-day appearances was the cornerstone of SSGC’s run chase which was efficiently accomplished in just 37.4 overs with eight wickets to spare as the left-handed partnership of Sami and skipper Umar Amin (65 off 74, six fours and one six) yielded 133 for the first wicket.

The end result was good enough for PTV to finished fourth in the final team standings since their net run-rate was superior that of SNGPL by a clear difference of +0.257, while SSGC clinched third spot with a +0.801 net run-rate after all three departments accumulated eight points apiece.

Former international leg-spinning all-rounder Mansoor Amjad snared four wickets for 45 runs in 9.2 overs to help Wapda bowl out NBP for 218 after Salman opted to field at the toss. Fellow spinners Zahid Mansoor (3-38 in 10 overs) and left-armer Khalid Usman (3-41 in 10) also allowed the NBP batsmen to score freely.

Kamran — who along with Salman and Waqas Maqsood skipped Sunday’s game against UBL as a mark of protest against Wapda chairman interfering in team selection — brought up his 19th List A century before being dismissed for a 125-ball 115 (14 fours and one six).

Salman contributed 44 off 57 balls (six fours) while sharing an opening stand of 101 with Kamran before Mansoor’s unbeaten 40 spurred Wapda to a six-wicket triumph in the 45th over and a second-place finish which pits them against PTV in the other semi-final at the UBL Sports Complex.

In the inconsequential match at the SBP Sports Complex, UBL collected 286-8 after winning the toss with captain Shan Masood crossing 50 for the fifth time in last seven innings. The left-hander made 86 off 115 deliveries with the aid of six fours, while sharing a partnership of 141 with Umair Khan (65 off 71, five fours and three sixes) after UBL had lost Umar Siddique (4) and Umar Akmal (2) with only nine runs on the board.

Akbar-ur-Rehman struck 64 (66 balls, two sixes and two fours) to further his claims for a regular berth, while KRL’ left-arm speedster Sadaf Hussain bagged his second straight four-for by taking 4-55, with his new-ball partner Ahmed Bashir picking up 3-45.

KRL’s reply lasted just 39.2 overs in which they managed 174 to leave UBL winners by 122 runs.

Results on Tuesday:

Seventh round:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: SNGPL beat HBL by four runs.

SNGPL 290-8 in 48 overs (Asad Shafiq 119, Hussain Talat 58, Khurram Shehzad 53, Sadaqat Ali 25 not out; Zohaib Khan 2-20, Mohammad Bilal 2-46, Nasir Ahmed 2-61, Ammad Butt 2-66); HBL 286 in 47.4 overs (Salman Afridi 93, Zohaib Khan 39 not out, Ahmed Shehzad 36, Imran Farhat 32, Ammad Butt 29; Mohammad Imran 3-55, Imran Khalid 2-58).

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: UBL beat KRL by 112 runs.

UBL 286-8 in 50 overs (Shan Masood 86, Umair Khan 65, Akbar-ur-Rehman 64, Sohail Khan 24; Sadaf Hussain 4-55, Ahmed Bashir 3-45); KRL 174 in 39.2 overs (Saif Badar 34, Sardar Hasan Raza 32, Mudassar Riaz 31, Jaahid Ali 27, Junaid Ali 24; Mir Hamza 3-43, Mohammad Asghar 2-23, Ashiq Ali 2-26).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Wapda beat NBP by six wickets.

NBP 218 in 48.2 overs (Rameez Raja 59, Kamran Ghulam 42, Haris Ali Khan 33, Ali Asad 23, Hamza Paracha 23; Mansoor Amjad 4-45, Zahid Mansoor 3-38, Khalid Usman 3-41); WAPDA 222-4 in 44.5 overs (Kamran Akmal 115, Salman Butt 44, Mansoor Amjad 40 not out; Bilal Asif 2-38).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: SSGC beat PTV by eight wickets.

PTV 194 in 46.2 overs (Nihal Mansoor 40, Saud Shakeel 30, Ali Khan 30, Ali Imran 26, Shahid Ilyas 22; Kashif Bhatti 4-29, Ahmed Jamal 2-34, Fawad Alam 2-41); SSGC 195-2 in 37.4 overs (Sami Aslam 103 not out, Umar Amin 65).

Thursday’s fixtures:

Semi-finals: UBL vs SSGC (NBP Sports Complex, Karachi); Wapda vs PTV (UBL Sports Complex, Karachi).

Final standings

(Tabulated under played, won, lost, points, net run-rate):

UBL 7 7 0 14 +2.024

Wapda 7 5 2 10 +0.077

SSGC 7 4 3 8 +0.801

PTV 7 4 3 8 +0.327

SNGPL 7 4 3 8 +0.070

HBL 7 3 4 6 -1.126

KRL 7 1 6 2 -1.169

NBP 7 0 7 0 -1.191

Note: teams in bold qualify for semi-finals.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2018