KARACHI: Islamabad rode on a maiden double century from Abid Ali to seal the last semi-final berth in the National One-day Regional Cup with a clinical 233-run rout of holders Peshawar in Tuesday’s final round of fixtures.

Elsewhere, discarded Pakistan opener Khurram Manzoor completed 6,000 one-day career runs while reaching a second consecutive hundred as Karachi Whites thrashed Lahore Whites by nine wickets to top the final eight-team standings.

In the remaining two matches, Rawalpindi — inspired by talented left-hander Saud Shakeel’s best one-day score — to outgun Fata by five wickets while Faisalabad prevented Lahore Blues from qualifying for the knockout round with a three-wicket win.

Abid, the 30-year-old from Lahore who also keeps wickets, stole the limelight at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar as the right-hander struck an undefeated 209 — surpassing previous highest one-day score of 119 not out — as Islamabad amassed 374-1 after being asked to bat first by Peshawar skipper Mohammad Rizwan.

Abid, who adorned his 156-ball knock with 24 boundaries and five sixes, shared an opening partnership of 176 inside 28 overs with skipper Shan Masood (71 off 84 balls, nine fours) before putting on a further 198 with Faizan Riaz (76 off 61, 11 fours) for the unbroken second wicket.

Peshawar, to the surprise of many, then put up a dismal batting display while capitulating for a miserable 141 all out in 38 overs after having lost half their side for 76 runs. Nabi Gul, batting at No. 7, was the top scorer with a 51-ball 42 before becoming one of three wickets for the part-time spinner Shahid Yousuf.

Lahore Blues missed a golden opportunity to make the semi-finals after a lacklustre performance at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. Sent into bat by Faisalabad skipper Khurram Shehzad, the Blues folded up for a modest 235 in 48.4 overs with captain Umar Akmal contributing just 28. Mohammad Saad continued his good form with 89 from 122 deliveries (four fours and one six) while Agha Salman scored 38.

Pakistan all-rounder Fahim Ashraf, who dismissed Waqas Saleem and Junaid Ali, upfront with the new ball, finished with figures of 3-29 in eight overs while fellow paceman Mohammad Imran claimed 3-46.

Faisalabad were guided home by Khurram (77 off 102 balls, eight fours and one sixes) and Imran (55 off 79, six fours and one six) as the pair shared a match-turning stand of 110 after their side had slumped to 48-4 in the ninth over.

Fahim (26) and Ali Shan (27 not out) also played a good hand before Faisalabad won on the penultimate delivery of the match.

Slow left-armer Qaiser Ashraf captured three wickets for 43 runs.

Despite skipper Usman Salahuddin contributing a fighting 92 (121 balls, seven boundaries) and Umar Siddique 60 (82 balls, seven fours) — the pair adding 116 after coming together at 24-3 in the seventh over — Lahore Whites reached a moderate tally of 239-8 after Asad Shafiq opted to field first at the toss.

Slow left-armer Mohammad Asghar picked up three wickets for 39 runs.

Khurram — who has now accumulated 6,031 runs in 130 matches at an average of 51.99 with 20 centuries and 31 half-centuries — then took the centre stage as the 31-year-old right-hander slammed an unbeaten 143 off only 126 balls as Karachi Whites cruised to victory by collecting 241-1 with 11 overs to spare.

Khurram’s 20th List A century included 17 fours and four sixes, while sharing a first-wicket of 170 with Asad (70 off 87, nine boundaries).

Khushdil Shah narrowly missed out on a fourth one-day hundred as the upcoming left-hander scored 96 (85 balls, eight fours and one six) to help Fata post 320-8 after Rawalpindi skipper Mohammad Hafeez elected to bowl first at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Mukhtar Ahmed blasted a quickfire 77 (69 balls, seven fours and three sixes), while Fata skipper Fawad Khan hit up 52 (55 balls, five fours and four sixes).

But Rawalpindi paced their chase to perfection as they reached 324-5 in 49.5 overs despite having been 32-3 in eighth over. Iftikhar Ahmed (91 off 89, nine fours and one six0 and Saud, who finished with 134 not out off 122 balls (15 fours and one six), added 185.

Both semi-finals will be played at the Pindi Cricket Stadium with last season’s runners-up Karachi Whites on Thursday playing Peshawar and Rawalpindi facing Islamabad on Friday, while the final is slated for Sunday at the same venue.

Tuesday’s results:

Seventh round:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Karachi Whites beat Lahore Whites by nine wickets.

LAHORE WHITES 239-8 in 50 overs (Usman Salahuddin 92, Umar Siddique 61, Adnan Akmal 35; Mohammad Asghar 3-39, Anwar Ali 2-41, Zia-ul-Haq 2-51); KARACHI WHITES 241-1 in 39 overs (Khurram Manzoor 143 not out, Asad Shafiq 70).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: Rawalpindi beat Fata by five wickets.

FATA 320-8 in 50 overs (Khushdil Shah 96, Mukhtar Ahmed 77, Fawad Khan 52, Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti 39; RAWALPINDI 324-5 in 49.5 overs (Saud Shakeel 134 not out, Iftikhar Ahmed 91, Behram Khan 35, Zeeshan Malik 23; Sohail Akhtar 2-27).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Faisalabad beat Lahore Blues by three wickets.

LAHORE BLUES 235 in 48.4 overs (Mohammad Saad 89, Agha Salman 38, Umar Akmal 28; Fahim Ashraf 3-29, Mohammad Imran 3-46); FAISALABAD 239-7 in 49.5 overs (Khurram Shehzad 77, Mohammad Imran 55, Ali Shan 27 not out, Fahim Ashraf 26; Qaiser Ashraf 3-43, Aizaz Cheema 2-42).

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: Islamabad beat Peshawar by 233 runs.

ISLAMABAD 374-1 in 50 overs (Abid Ali 209 not out, Faizan Riaz 76 not out, Shan Masood 71); PESHAWAR 141 in 38 overs (Nabi Gul 42, Sahibzada Farhan 24, Ubaidullah 21, Mehran Ibrahim 20; Shahid Yousuf 3-8, Nauman Ali 2-23, Ahmed Bashir 2-25, Raza Hasan 2-39).

Final standings

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

Karachi Whites 7 5 2 0 10 +0.677

Rawalpindi 7 5 2 0 10 +0.539

Peshawar 7 5 2 0 10 -0.440

Islamabad 7 3 4 0 6 +0.578

Lahore Blues 7 3 4 0 6 +0.292

Faisalabad 7 3 4 0 6 -0.331

Lahore Whites 7 2 4 1 5 -0.638

Fata 7 1 5 1 3 -0.663

Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2018