KARACHI: Islamabad had nothing going for them when lost all four games against their departmental rivals in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship but on Saturday they finally had something to celebrate as they cruised to an innings and 160-run win over Fata.

Lahore Blues were also rejoicing when too brought an end to a run of four consecutive defeats in the championship by virtue of a narrow 21-run success against Multan. The outcome of this match also meant that ZTBL plummeted to the bottom of Pool ‘B’.

In the other fixture to yield a conclusive result on the fourth and final of the fifth-round action, Lahore Whites sealed a nail-biting first triumph by one wicket against Peshawar after being involved in four successive stalemates.

Fata, who resumed their second innings at 49-3, were sent packing for 108 at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad with the main damage inflicted upon them by paceman Hazrat Shah who grabbed seven wickets for 35 runs in 16.5 overs.

Multan, chasing 263, were all out for 241 at the Multan Cricket Stadium with opener Usman Liaquat (86 off 231 balls, eight boundaries) and Ali Usman (51) the only batsmen to offer resistance.

Former Pakistan seamer Aizaz Cheema (5-53 in 21 overs) and his new-ball partner Bilawal Iqbal (4-69 in 25.2 overs) shared the bowling honours for Lahore Blues.

Lahore Whites had to wither some anxious moments before getting over the line against Peshawar at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, collecting 184-9 to thwart off-spinner Sajid Khan’s bid to turn tide in Peshawar’s favor with six wickets for 35 runs.

Meanwhile in a strange display at the UBL Sports Complex in Karachi, Karachi Whites plodded their way to 110 all out in 63.4 overs of their second innings against Rawalpindi. Having resumed at 44-1, the hosts added only 66 runs in 45.4 overs to the overnight score.

Seamer Haseeb Azam starred with excellent return of 6-29 in 24 overs.

Left with a rather tough chase for 233, Rawalpindi recovered from the loss of four wickets for 35 runs to reach 106-4 through skipper Umar Waheed (39) and Naved Malik (32) when the match was called off.

In the four fixtures concluding on Friday, holders Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) crushed National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) by 202 runs, last season’s runners-up Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) trounced Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) by nine wickets, Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) annihilated Pakistan Television (PTV) by an innings and 46 runs and Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) beat Habib Bank Limited (HBL) by 35 runs.

Scores and results on Saturday (final day of four):

Fifth round:

Pool ‘A’:

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Lahore Whites beat Peshawar by one wicket.

PESHAWAR 295 in 77.2 overs (Ashfaq Ahmed 89, Sahibzada Farhan 75, Musadiq Ahmed 62; Waqas Ahmed 4077, Mohammad Irfan 3-68, Bilal Anwar 2-62) and 156 in 37.2 overs (Nasir Ahmed 45, Sahibzada Farhan 33, Israrullah 23; Bilal Anwar 5-46, Waqas Ahmed 3-53); LAHORE WHITES 271 in 109 overs (Ali Rafiq 80, Afaq Shahid 48, Ameer Hamza 38, Nauman Anwar 30; Taj Wali 4-77, Altaf Ahmed 3-46, Sajid Khan 2-53) and 184-9 in 52 overs (Ali Zaryab 47, Nauman Anwar 42, Ali Rafiq 26, Mohammad Irfan 24; Sajid Khan 6-35, Nasir Ahmed 2-41).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Islamabad beat Fata by an innings and 160 runs.

ISLAMABAD 542 in 146 overs (Ali Sarfraz 185, Rizwan Ali 135, Faizan Riaz 53, Fahad Iqbal 28, Sarmad Bhatti 25, Ahmed Safi 21; Mohammad Talha 4-161, Khushdil Shah 2-42)); FATA 275 in 90 overs (Afaq Raheem 64, Saeed Khan 64, Asad Afridi 37, Nisar Afridi 30, Khushdil Shah 24; Mohammad Hamza Nadeem 3-55, Ahmed Safi 3-59, Hazrat Shah 3-61) and 108 in 40.5 overs (Asif Afridi 29, Fazal-ur-Rehman 25; Hazrat Shah 7-35).

Pool ‘B’:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Match drawn.

KARACHI WHITES 491 in 118.4 overs (Khurram Manzoor 197, Shahzar Mohammad 95, Mohammad Hasan 70, Waqar Anwar 47, Anwar Ali 31, Omair Bin Yousuf 28; Haseeb Azam 4-71, Mohammad Nawaz 3-107, Syed Tauseeq Shah 3-130) and 110 in 63.4 overs (Shahzar Mohammad 24; Haseeb Azam 6-29, Saad Altaf 3-50); RAWALPINDI 369 in 119.4 overs (Mohammad Nawaz 143, Umar Waheed 114, Mukhtar Ahmed 38, Umair Masood 35, Naved Malik 20; Waqar Anwar 5-60, Anwar Ali 2-29) and 106-4 in 31 overs (Umar Waheed 39 not out, Naved Malik 32 not out, Zeeshan Malik 21; Mohammad Sami 2-15).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: Lahore Blues beat Multan by 21 runs.

LAHORE BLUES 265 in 114 overs (Rizwan Hussain 97, Irfan Haider 52, Saad Nasim 27, Fahad-ul-Haq 25; Ali Usman 4-58, Asif Fawad 2-48, Mohammad Ali Khan 2-54) and 146 in 43 overs (Fahad-ul-Haq 39, Shahid Nawaz 28 not out; Ahsan Baig 3-26, Mohammad Ali Khan 3-28, Mohammad Irfan 2-25, Asif Fawad 2-33); MULTAN 149 in 59.2 overs (Waqar Hussain 30, Usman Farhat 27, Saif-ur-Rehman 27, Ali Usman 24, Asif Fawad 20; Mohammad Ramiz 4-43, Aizaz Cheema 3-42) and 241 in 92.2 overs (Usman Liaquat 86, Ali Usman 51, Zeeshan Ashraf 34, Imran Rafiq 29, Waqar Hussain 29; Aizaz Cheema 5-53, Bilawal Iqbal 4-69).

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2018