KARACHI: Former Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship champions Wapda began the new season on a losing note as Karachi Whites pulled off an impressive eight-wicket victory on the penultimate day of the four-day game here at the National Stadium on Monday.

Seasoned paceman Adeel Malik closed in on 200 first-class wickets by taking nine against the 2016-17 winners of the coveted title, including brilliant figures of 5-32 in 20.1 overs as Wapda were dismissed for 180 after resuming their overnight second innings at 35-2.

Only left-hander Ayaz Tasawwar offered resistance with a dogged 85 with his patient 207-ball knock in 281 minutes featuring 10 boundaries.

The 32-year-old Adeel, who has now claimed 195 wickets in 60 first-class appearances, finished with match bag of nine for 120.

Requiring 134, Karachi Whites got home quite easily as Pakistan discard Khurram Manzoor struck 62 from 86 balls with eight hits to the fence, while adding 75 for the second wicket with Mirza Asad Baig, who followed his 76 in the first innings with an unbeaten 43.

Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) marked their return to first-class cricket with a comprehensive 151-run defeat of Lahore Blues at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

The bankers’ unlikely match-winner turned out to be the 33-year-old Waqas Saleem, who returned career-best analysis of 6-43 with his occasional off-spinners as Lahore Blues were shot out for 77 in 31.4 overs in pursuit of a 229-run target.

ZTBL earned six points since Lahore Blues had managed to take a slender two-run lead on the first innings.

Multan reached 73-1 after PTV set them a stiff 352-run chase at the Multan Cricket Stadium. The highlights of the day being PTV’s young skipper Saud Shakeel’s unbeaten century.

The 22-year-old left-hander from Karachi underlined his huge promise with 108 — his sixth hundred in 24 matches — off 128 balls with 13 boundaries befoee closing PTV’s second innings at 236-5.

Peshawar secured a handy 54-run lead by dismissing KRL for 224 at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi with left-arm paceman Taj Wali grabbing five wickets for 24 runs in 14 overs. The visitors closed the day at 47-2 in their second innings.

Rawalpindi were heading for defeat after they struggled to 84-3 while being set a tall chase for 372 runs by SSGCL at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

Sami Aslam, the discarded Test opener, had time to exactly match his first innings score of 100 before SSGCL declared their second innings at 175-3. The left-hander’s 10th century at this level was scored off 135 balls with the aid of 10 boundaries.

Usman Salahuddin reminded the national selectors that he he’s still part of their planning for next month’s Test series against Australia in the UAE with an undefeated contribution of 123 (331 balls, 12 fours) while inspiring Lahore Whites to a 36-run lead over defending champions SNGPL at the LCCA Ground in Lahore.

Kamran Ghulam’s unbeaten 101 (173 balls, 11 fours and one six) put NBP in complete command against Fata at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. The bankers declared at 434-7 after building a massive 187-run lead and then reduced Fata to 43-2 by stumps.

Islamabad reached 65-3 after HBL obtained a slim seven-run lead on the first innings at the Diamond Club Ground.

Close of play scores and results on Monday (day three of four):

Pool ‘A’:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: SNGPL 251 in 109.5 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 69, Naeemuddin 56, Asad Shafiq 22; Babar Rehman 4-65, Mohammad Irfan 4-84); LAHORE WHITES 283-7 in 119 overs (Usman Salahuddin 123 not out, Ali Zaryab 38, Mohammad Waheed 36, Nauman Anwar 30; Bilawal Bhatti 3-70).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: PESHAWAR 278 in 99 overs (Akbar Badshah 114 not out, Israrullah 54; Nauman Ali 6-62, Sadaf Hussain 2-61) and 47-2 in 26.1 overs; KRL 224 in 103 overs (Jaahid Ali 52,Abdur Rehman Muzammil 52, Azeem Ghumman 31; Taj Wali 5-24, Sajid Khan 2-61).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ISLAMABAD 348 in 89.3 overs (Rohail Nazir 130, Shehzad Azam Rana 70 not out, Sarmad Bhatti 59, Zohaib Ahmed 45; Umar Gul 3-34, Abdur Rehman 3-93, Amad Butt 2-53) and 65-3 in 23 overs (Amad Butt 2-22); HBL 355 in 112.4 overs (Ramiz Aziz 87, Abid Ali 83, Saad Khan 44, Salman Afridi 32; Mohammad Nadeem 5-90, Shehzad Azam Rana 2-76, Mohammad Arham 2-91).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: FATA 247 in 98 overs (Afaq Raheem 103, Nisar Afridi 57; Mir Hamza 6-42, Atif Jabbar 3-65) and 43-2 in 10 overs; NBP 434-7 declared in 115.4 overs (Kamran Ghulam 101 not out, Danish Aziz 84, Rameez Raja 57, Akbar-ur-Rehman 47, Mohammad Asghar 41; Adnan Ghaus 3-123).

Pool ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Karachi Whites beat Wapda by eight wickets.

WAPDA 245 in 63.2 overs (Adnan Raees 53, Khalid Usman 51, Kamran Akmal 32; Adeel Malik 4-88, Hassaan Khan 2-11, Mohammad Umar 2-42) and 180 in 68.1 overs (Ayaz Tasawwar 85, Ehsan Adil 39; Adeel Malik 5-32, Mohammad Umar 2-40, Mohammad Ismail Khan 2-60); KARACHI WHITES 292 in 96.2 overs (Mirza Asad Baig 76, Khurram Manzoor 42, Mohammad Hasan 37, Kashif Iqbal 36; Hussain Shah 4-63, Zulfiqar Babar 2-49, Ehsan Adil 2-67, Waqas Maqsood 2-75) and 134-2 in 34.2 overs (Khurram Manzoor 62, Mirza Asad Baig 43 not out, Saad Ali 21 not out).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: PTV 281 in 105.4 overs (Umair Khan 68, Saud Shakeel 42, Mohammad Yasin 41; Mohammad Irfan 5-37, Ahsan Baig 2-60) and 236-5 declared in 59 overs (Saud Shakeel 108 not out, Saeed Bin Nasir 37, Ali Khan 35, Umair Khan 34; Ahsan Baig 2-59); MULTAN 166 in 73.5 overs (Waqar Hussain 43; Aamir Jamal 3-28, Ali Khan 2-15, Mohammad Hasnain 2-32) and 73-1 in 24 overs (Usman Liaquat 34 not out).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: ZTBL beat Lahore Blues by 151 runs.

ZTBL 121 in 46.4 overs (Aaqib Shah 55 not out, Munir-ur-Rehman Tanzil 41; Aizaz Cheema 4-21, Mohammad Umar 3-38, Bilawal Iqbal 2-29) and 230 in 87.3 overs (Haseeb-ur-Rehman 48, Aaqib Shah 45, Waqas Saleem 36, Saadullah Ghauri 26; Aizaz Cheema 4-43, Zafar Gohar 3-62); LAHORE BLUES 123 in 54.2 overs (Farhan Khan 42; Haseeb-ur-Rehman 4-9, Mohammad Ali 3-32) and 77 in 31.4 overs (Waqas Saleem 6-43, Mohsin Nadeem 3-10).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: SSGCL 349 in 104.5 overs (Umar Amin 154, Sami Aslam 100, Adil Amin 38; Saad Altaf 6-88, Rizwan Akbar 2-77) and 175-3 declared in 36 overs (Sami Aslam 100 not out, Awais Zia 30); RAWALPINDI 153 in 60.3 overs (Naved Malik 58; Kashif Bhatti 4-17, Aamir Yamin 3-35, Ahmed Jamal 3-40) and 84-3 in 26 overs (Mukhtar Ahmed 57 not out; Sohail Khan 2-17).

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2018