Fata stun HBL while Multan sink ZTBL

KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited’s hopes of making decent progress in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship took a real hammering on Friday when Fata upstaged the departmental side by 233 runs in Abbottabad.

Saleem Jaffer, the former Pakistan paceman and ex-national selector, was a perturbed head coach as his side capitulated without a trace for 106 in less than 30 overs at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium to lose their second match in the championship.

Umar Akmal, the disgruntled Pakistan right-hander who is also in his first season for HBL, was the top scorer with 36 to leave Fata celebrating a famous first victory after setting the bankers a target of 340.

For Fata skipper Asif Afridi the outing turned out be a memorable occasion. After scoring a maiden first-class century (112) in the first innings, the 31-year-old grabbed career-best figures of 6-36 on the fourth and final day of this fourth-round match.

Earlier, Fata closed their overnight second innings at 258-8 with long-discarded Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Talha reaching his second half century of the game as he hit an unbeaten 54.

Multan sealed their second win, this time by an innings and 84 runs, while condemning the hapless ZTBL to their third in four matches after the latter folded up for 179 after restarting their second innings at 68-3 at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan.

The remaining encounter of this round at the LCCA Ground ended in a tame draw with Lahore Blues taking three points against KRL.

In the five matches finishing inside three days, defending champions SNGPL thrashed Peshawar by an innings and 105 runs at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, SGCL thumped Lahore Blues by an innings and 85 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, NBP whipped Islamabad by an innings and 162 runs at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital while Karachi Whites and Wapda both emerged winners by seven wickets against PTV and Rawalpindi at the UBL Sports Complex in Karachi and Rawalpindi’s at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, respectively.

All teams who figured in this round will play in the fourth-round fixtures of the Quaid-i-Azam One-day Cup on Sunday, the fifth round of the first-class competition begins from Wednesday.

Scores and results on Friday (day three of four):

Fourth round:

Pool ‘A’:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: Match drawn.

LAHORE WHITES 182 in 100.1 overs (Afaq Shahid 51, Ali Zaryab 44, Imran Dogar 40; Yasir Ali 5-23, Sameen Gul 2-20, Ali Shafiq 2-63) and 177 in 92.3 overs (Ali Rafiq 60, Ali Zaryab 23; Sameen Gul 4-31, Yasir Ali 2-24, Saeed Anwar Jr 2-31, Nauman Ali 2-49); KRL 166 in 66.5 overs (Gulraiz Sadaf 58, Jaahid Ali 26, Usman Arshad 20; Mohammad Irfan 5-47, Waqas Ahmed 4-46) and 90-0 in 55 overs (Azeem Ghumman 35, Jaahid Ali 28; Waqas Ahmed 2-21)

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: Fata beat HBL by 233 runs.

FATA 437 in 97.2 overs (Asif Afridi 112, Afaq Raheem 75, Mohammad Talha 68, Asad Afridi 52, Samiullah Jr 41, Khushdil Shah 35; Khurram Shahzad 6-162, Ammad Butt 2-79, Umar Gul 2-82) and 258-8 declared in 80.2 overs (Mohammad Talha 54 not out, Asif Afridi 43, Mohammad Naeem 37, Asad Afridi 31, Afaq Raheem 30, Samiullah Jr 25; Ammad Butt 4-76, Israr-ul-Haq 4-97); HBL 356 in 113 overs (Zohaib Khan 73, Mohammad Waqas 70, Salman Afridi 48, Ammad Butt 35, Imran Farhat 32, Umar Akmal 24, Israr-ul-Haq 20; Mohammad Talha 4-85, Naseer Akram 2-45, Asif Afridi 2-70) and 106 in 29.1 overs (Umar Akmal 36; Asif Afridi 6-36, Manzoor Khan 2-20, Mohammad Talha 2-36)

ZTBL 223 in 89.4 overs (Waqas Saleem 43, Anas Mustafa 40, Shahrukh Ali 36 not out; Mohammad Ali Khan 3-46, Ali Usman 3-48, Sajjad Hussain 3-69) and 179 in 57.1 overs (Aun Abbas 46, Haseeb-ur-Rehman 44, Waqas Saleem 26, Mansoor Ali 21; Ahsan Baig 4-44, Ali Usman 3-27); MULTAN 486-9 declared in 154 overs (Imran Rafiq 148, Khalilullah 96, Ali Usman 89, Usman Liaquat 61, Hasnain Bukhari 34, Waqar Hussain 21; Imran Khan 3-56, Haider Ali 3-113, Usman Ashraf 2-76)