KARACHI: A workmanlike century from Abid Ali inspired Federal Areas to maintain their unbeaten run in the Pakistan Cup with a comprehensive 149-run victory against Sindh at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Sunday.

In contrast to the preceding matches of this competition, game five produced an enthralling encounter as Federal Areas successfully defended a modest total of 242-8 to perfection on a pitch that surprisingly became tougher for the batsmen as the match went deep as it slower.

With Fawad Alam sidelined by an unspecified injury, Sindh struggled throughout the chase before being dismissed for a paltry 93 in 31 overs, thereby erasing their own mark of lowest total in this competition — 158 all out versus Punjab in 2016.

Khurram Shehzad fought a lone battle for a while but even he couldn’t improve Sindh’s predictable demise as he top-scored with a 50-ball 25.

Umar Amin, the Sindh skipper, was candid enough at the post-match presentation to admit his batsmen should have got the runs in a canter had they applied themselves. The captain himself was guilty of playing a rash stroke that brought his downfall when he castled by occasional off-spin of Agha Salman for 12.

Salman finished with three wickets for eight runs to continue his rise as a genuine all-rounder who well could be soon playing international cricket after already impressing the experts during the Pakistan Super League this year.

Raza Hasan, the slow let-armer, also made life difficult for the groping batsmen with the key scalp of in-form Iftikhar Ahmed and also that of hard-hitting all-rounder Aamir Yamin while finishing with 2-33 in 10 overs.

Waqas Maqsood also underlined his worth as a left-arm paceman with three for 14 from seven overs to ensure Federal Areas remain the only unbeaten side in this five-team tournament at the midpoint.

Earlier, man-of-the-match Abid was the mainstay of Federal Areas’ fluctuating innings after Umar Amin opted to bowl first at the toss, the 30-year-old from Lahore who holds the Pakistan record of the highest List A score — an unbeaten 209 made for Islamabad in the National Regional One-day Cup match against Peshawar in Peshawar on Feb 6 this year — until he was eighth out for 109 after striking 13 fours in a 145-ball contribution.

The match got off to a dramatic start when skipper Kamran Akmal was acrobatically caught behind by his diving younger brother Adnan Akmal for a second-ball duck but Abid stayed firm to enable his team make a fine recovery.

Sohaib Maqsood flattered to deceive yet again after getting his eye in to score a 40-ball 34, which remarkably was the second highest score of this game.

Agha Salman (26 off 34 balls) played a fine supporting role to help Abid share the highest partnership of the match, 76 for the fifth wicket, while Waqas struck some meaty blows in blasting 29 from 17 balls with three fours and a six.

The Pakistan left-arm pace duo of the giant Mohammad Irfan and Junaid Khan along with off-spinner Bilal Asif claimed two wicket apiece with Irfan taking 2-28 in 10 overs to emerge as the standout performer for Sindh.

Scoreboard

FEDERAL AREAS:

Kamran Akmal c Adnan b Aamir 0
Awais Zia run out 9
Abid Ali c Khurram b Irfan 109
Sohaib Maqsood c Adnan b Irfan 34
Hussain Talat c Adnan b Junaid 5
Agha Salman c Asghar b Bilal 26
Saad Nasim c Asghar b Bilal 6
Umaid Asif c Asghar b Junaid 14
Waqas Maqsood not out 29
Usman Khan Shinwari not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-1, W-8) 9

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 50 overs) 242

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-26, 3-84, 4-95, 5-171, 6-179, 7-203, 8-212.

DID NOT BAT: Raza Hasan.

BOWLING: Aamir Yamin 10-1-36-1 (2w); Mohammad Irfan 10-2-28-2 (3w); Junaid Khan 10-0-63-2 (2w); Mohammad Asghar 10-0-60-0; Bilal Asif 10-0-54-2.

SINDH:

Salman Butt c Saad b Salman 18
Umar Amin b Salman 12
Iftikhar Ahmed b Raza 11
Khurram Shehzad st Adnan b Salman 25
Ramiz Aziz c Abid b Umaid 3
Adnan Akmal run out 2
Aamir Yamin sub b Raza 6
Bilal Asif c Awais b Waqas 8
Mohammad Asghar lbw b Waqas 2
Junaid Khan not out 1
Mohammad Irfan b Waqas 1

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

TOTAL (all out, 31 overs) 93

FALL OF WKTS: 1-26, 2-33, 3-55, 4-58, 5-63, 6-74, 7-83, 8-89, 9-89.

BOWLING: Usman Khan Shinwari 5-1-24-0; Waqas Maqsood 7-2-14-3 (1nb, 1w); Agha Salman 4-0-8-3; Raza Hasan 10-0-33-2; Umaid Asif 5-1-12-1.

RESULT: Federal Areas won by 149 runs.

UMPIRES: Ahmed Shahab and Shozab Raza.

TV UMPIRE: Ahsan Raza.

MATCH REFEREE: Mohammad Javed.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Abid Ali.

MONDAY’S FIXTURE: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Balochistan (2:30pm PST).

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2018