KARACHI: United Bank Limited (UBL) were crowned deserving champions of the One-day Departmental Cup here on Sunday after Younis Khan’s charges cruised to a six-wicket victory in the final at the UBL Sports Complex.

It was a fitting conclusion to UBL’s outstanding campaign as they picked their fourth one-day trophy by cantering to ninth successive victory with seven overs to spare, and appropriately enough, it was Younis who struck the winning stroke — an elegantly-driven four off Khushdil Shah — in the unfinished stand of 63 in 56 balls with Saad Ali in probably his last appearance.

Far from being a tight contest between the best two sides of the competition this year, it became a one-way traffic once Wapda were jolted by the first-ball dismissal of their talisman Kamran Akmal, who had no answer to a magnificent inswinging delivery from the talented left-armer Mir Hamza that found enough space between bat and pad to send the middle stump out of its perch.

On a pitch offering marginal help for bowlers upfront, UBL bowlers were incisive from the word go after Younis decided to cash in on the early morning start. The loss of Kamran was a crippling blow from which Wapda never really recovered.

Luck also deserted Wapda just when it appeared Salman Butt and Bismillah Khan had weathered the early storm in a partnership of 50 from 58 balls. A firm drive from Bismillah ricocheted off spinner Mohammad Asghar’s hand onto the stumps to find the skipper, who was in the natural process of backing up, out of his crease.

The run out of Salman (19) opened the floodgate of wickets as five of them crashed without a trace for the addition of 45 runs to leave Wapda in dire straits at 113-7 in the 32nd over. Asghar and Hammad Azam took smart return catches to see off Bismillah — who scored run-a-ball 43 which included two sixes in one Asghar one and five boundaries — while Younis plucked a wonderful, low catch at short midwicket when Khushdil aimed to pierce the field.

With an early finish to an even contest looming, Khalid Usman and Wahab Riaz then came together to extend the game further as they shared an entertaining partnership of 84 in 79 balls. Wahab took the attack to the bowlers as the Pakistan paceman used the long handle to smash two sixes and six fours to score 53 from 45 deliveries before holing to deep midwicket while attempting a big hit against Hamza.

Khalid also departed soon after contributing a 60-ball 46 (four fours) to provide man-of-the-match Hammad his third wicket before Sameen Gul had Mohammad Asif caught to terminate Wapda’s innings at 218 in the 49th over.

UBL launched their chase on a solid note before Salman held catches at short cover to give his team a slim chance of bouncing back into contention. Umar Siddique (16) fell to Zahid Mansoor and Umar Akmal (1) miscued a drive against Khalid.

Shan Masood continued his tremendous form by adding yet another half century (59 off 89 balls, five boundaries) to take his tally of runs to 632 at an average of 158. The left-handed Pakistan opener and Sohaib Maqsood (63 off 71, six fours and one six) shared the highest partnership of the match — 94 in 117 balls — until both were leg-before-wicket.

Saad (42 off 43, five fours and one six) and Younis (33 off 36, five fours) completed the last rites in front of a sizeable turnout which was in celebratory mood as the end neared. In their endeavour to get close to their favourite players, a fair number of them rushed onto the field just as the presentation ceremony took place.

“It was fair result to be honest because we played as unit throughout the tournament and each player was focused on the job,” a beaming Younis said after receiving the winners-up trophy and cash prize of Rs1 million from PCB governing board member Mansoor M. Khan. “It was collective team effort but I must praise the way Shan laid the foundation upfront.”

A crestfallen Salman lamented the lack of runs led to Wapda finishing runners-up for the third straight national tournament after having lost the National T20 Cup final while leading Lahore Whites and the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship title to SNGPL.

“We are pretty disappointed at not being able to be competitive today. Luck was not on our side and Kamran’s wicket put us on the back foot from the onset,” Salman remarked. “UBL certainly deserved to win here because they were excellent all the way.”

Hammad bagged Rs100,000 for being man-of-the-match for his 3-35; Shan won the best batsman award, KRL’s Sadaf Hussain (18 wickets) clinched the best bowler’s prize while Kamran consoled himself with the all-rounder award after amassing 532 runs and making 12 dismissals in the event.

Scoreboard

WAPDA:

Kamran Akmal b Hamza 0

Salman Butt run out 19

Bismillah Khan b Hammad 43

Zahid Mansoor c and b Asghar 20

Aamir Sajjad c and b Hammad 14

Khushdil Shah c Younis b Asghar 1

Mansoor Amjad c U. Akmal b Ashiq 11

Khalid Usman c Sameen b Hammad 46

Wahab Riaz c Asghar b Hamza 53

Mohammad Asif c Ashiq b Sameen 6

Mohammad Irfan not out 0

EXTRAS (B-1, LB-1, W-2, NB-1) 5

TOTAL (all out, 48.3 overs) 218

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-50, 3-68, 4-88, 5-94, 6-103, 7-113, 8-197, 9-213.

BOWLING: Mir Hamza 10-1-49-2; Sameen Gul 8-0-40-1 (2w); Mohammad Asghar 10-1-44-2 (1nb); Hammad Azam 8.3-1-35-3; Ashiq Ali 10-1-31-1; Sohaib Maqsood 2-0-17-0.

UNITED BANK LIMITED:

Shan Masood lbw b Khalid 59

Umar Siddique c Salman b Zahid 16

Umar Akmal c Salman b Khalid 1

Sohaib Maqsood lbw b Khalid 63

Saad Ali not out 42

Younis Khan not out 33

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-4, NB-1) 6

TOTAL (for four wkts, 43 overs) 220

FALL OF WKTS: 1-40, 2-043, 3-137, 4-157.

DID NOT BAT: Hammad Azam, Ashiq Ali, Mohammad Asghar, Mir Hamza, Sameen Gul.

BOWLING: Mohammad Irfan 5-0-28-0; Mohammad Asif 2-0-13-0; Zahid Mansoor 10-0-33-1 (2w); Khalid Usman 10-0-42-3; Mansoor Amjad 8-0-51-0; Wahab Riaz 5-1-30-0 (1nb, 1w); Khushdil Shah 3-0-22-0.

RESULT: United Bank won by six wickets.

UMPIRES: Khalid Mahmood and Asif Yaqoob.

TV UMPIRE: Ahmed Shahab.

MATCH REFEREE: Iftikhar Ahmed.

SCORERS: Imran and Salman Hussain.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Hammad Azam.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2018