KARACHI: Two days after being overlooked for Asia Cup selection on fitness grounds, veteran Pakistan right-hander Mohammad Hafeez scored a breezy half-century while inspiring SNGPL to victory in the first-round of the Quaid-i-Azam One-day Cup in Lahore on Thursday.

Hafeez, who turns 38 on Oct 17, hit 82 from 80 balls with the aid of six fours and three sixes as SNGPL collected 295-8 in 50 overs after they were inserted in by Lahore Whites skipper Usman Salahuddin in the Group ‘A’ fixture at the LCCA Ground.

The SNGPL skipper put on 130 for the first wicket with Test specialist Asad Shafiq (50 off 60 balls, four boundaries), while another Pakistan discard Iftikhar Ahmed slammed a 51-ball 54 (four fours and one six). Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq 20 off 23 balls.

Slow left-armer Qaiser Ashraf claimed 5-43 in 10 overs.

Lahore Whites fought gamely before ending up making 252-9 with Usman scoring 57.

In a shock result Lahore Blues stunned ZTBL by 87 runs at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Chasing 308, ZTBL were all out for 222.

NBP went on a batting spree by posting 394-4 after opting to bat first against Fata at the Abbott­abad Cricket Stadium in Abbott­abad. Captain Rameez Raja clobbered 144 off 128 balls (21 boundaries) and put on 178 for the second wicket with Ahsan Ali (73 off 67 balls, 10 fours and two sixes) after NBP lost Umar Siddique without a run on the board.

Akbar-ur-Rehman blasted 77 off 66 balls (four fours and two sixes).

Fata, though, responded spiritedly to the impossible target as they reached 323-9 with the talented left-handed batting all-rounder Khushdil Shah striking 110 (112 balls, nine fours and five sixes).

HBL were given a tough time by Islamabad before the bankers pulled off a tense three-wicket success with eight balls at the Diamond Club Ground.

Sarmad Bhatti hit 115 (116 balls, 11 fours and one six) was the cornerstone of Islamabad’s total of 271-6.

Opener Abid Ali struck 74 with his 79-ball knock containing 11 hits to the fence in a solid display for HBL.

Wapda recovered from their shock defeat in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy opener by handing Karachi Whites a seven-wicket drubbing at the National Stadium.

Spinner Khalid Usman snared five wickets for 32 runs in 9.4 overs as Karachi Whites were dismissed for 163.

Salman Butt made amends for his double failure in the first-class fixture as the former Pakistan skipper contributed 52.

SSGCL posted a six-wicket victory over Rawalpindi at the Pindi Cricket Stadium after bowling out the regional outfit for 167.

PTV also ran out easy winners against Multan by eight wickets at the Multan Cricket Stadium where the hosts managed a paltry tally of 138 in 38.2 overs.

PTV, in reply, reached 140-2 in the 30th over with captain Saud Shakeel scoring an unbeaten 33.

KRL skittled out Peshawar for just 79 before cruising home by eight wickets at the KRL Stadium. Slow left-armer Nauman Ali claimed 5-10 in 8.2 overs after Peshawar chose to bat first.

Thursday’s results:

First round:

Pool ‘A’:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: SNGPL beat Lahore Whites by 43 runs.

SNGPL 295-8 in 50 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 82, Iftikhar Ahmed 54, Asad Shafiq 50, Mohammad Rizwan 25, Misbah-ul-Haq 20; Qaiser Ashraf 5-43, Mohammad Irfan 2-47); LAHORE WHITES 252-9 in 50 overs (Usman Salahuddin 57, Ameer Hamza 47, Ali Zaryab 31, Mohammad Irfan 29; Mohammad Imran 3-43, Imran Khalid 2-36, Bilawal Bhatti 2-43).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: KRL beat Peshawar by eight wickets.

PESHAWAR 79 in 31.2 overs (Ashfaq Ahmed 39; Nauman Ali 5-10, Ali Shafiq 2-17, Yasir Ali 2-26); KRL 80-2 in 19.1 overs (Mohammad Mohsin 51 not out, Saeed Anwar 28 not out).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: HBL beat Islamabad by three wickets.

ISLAMABAD 271-6 in 50 overs (Sarmad Bhatti 115, Faizan Riaz 60, Shehzad Azam Rana 52 not out; Umar Gul 2-46); HBL 272-7 in 48.4 overs (Abid Ali 74, Imran Farhat 48, Ramiz Aziz 42, Agha Salman 30, Salman Afridi 20, Umar Akmal 20; Samiullah Mehsud 3-36, Shehzad Azam Rana 2-45).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: NBP beat Fata by 71 runs.

NBP 394-4 in 50 overs (Rameez Raja 144, Akbar-ur-Rehman 77, Ahsan Ali 73, Kamran Ghulam 45 not out, Danish Aziz 30; Adnan Ghaus 2-75); FATA 323-9 in 50 overs (Khushdil Shah 110, Asif Afridi 59, Fazal-ur-Rehman 43, Nisar Afridi 39, Rehan Afridi 22, Mohammad Talha 22 not out; Ghulam Mudassar 2-30, Bilal Asif 2-42).

Pool ‘B’:

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

KARACHI WHITES 163 in 40.4 overs (Mirza Asad Baig 47, Saad Ali 33, Mohammad Hasan 33, Anwar Ali 20; Khalid Usman 5-32, Waqas Maqsood 2-24); WAPDA 164-3 in 45.1 overs (Mohammad Saad 57 not out, Salman Butt 52).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: PTV beat Multan by eight wickets.

MULTAN 138 in 38.2 overs (Waqar Hussain 40, Ibtisam Sheikh 29; Raza Hasan 3-14, Abdul Razzaq 2-14, Mohammad Irfan 2-44); PTV 140-2 in 29.4 overs (Ali Imran 64, Nihal Mansoor 38, Saud Shakeel 33 not out).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: Lahore Blues beat ZTBL by 85 runs.

LAHORE BLUES 307-6 in 50 overs (Hamza Nazar 75, Bilal Irshad 67, Saad Nasim 62, Tayyab Tahir 36, Rizwan Hussain 31; Salahuddin 2-39, Haris Majeed 2-43); ZTBL 222 in 45.2 overs (Anas Mustafa 51, Munir-ur-Rehman Tanzil 37, Haris Majeed 32, Aoun Abbas 31, Saadullah Ghauri 27; Aizaz Cheema 3-27, Zafar Gohar 3-40, Hamza Nazar 2-40).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: SSGCL beat Rawalpindi by six wickets.

RAWALPINDI 167 in 48.5 overs (Tayyab Riaz 49, Umair Masood 31, Asif Ali 24; Kashif Bhatti 3-29, Mohammad Irfan Jr 3-35, Zia-ul-Haq 2-39); SSGCL 170-4 in 24.2 overs (Awais Zia 44, Fawad Alam 42 not out, Sami Aslam 27, Adil Amin 27 not out; Asif Ali 2-33, Kashif Ali 2-43).

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2018