KARACHI: Inspired by Junaid Khan’s 10-wicket haul, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) sealed a crushing 248-run victory over Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Champ­ionship holders SNGPL on the third day of the Pool ‘A’ fixture in Faisalabad on Saturday.

In other matches to conclude on the penultimate day of the four-day matches, Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) and Lahore Blues both recorded identical wins by nine wickets against National Bank of Pakistan and Rawalpindi, respectively.

Starting the sixth-round match precariously placed sixth in Pool ‘A’, HBL not just toppled group leaders at the Iqbal Stadium by a handsome margin but now have also put themselves very much in contention for the Super Eight qualification. Their second win lifted hem above Lahore Whites into fifth place, just two points behind NBP — HBL’s rivals in the last round at the same venue from Friday — with a tally of 21.

Set a huge 469 after HBL had been bowled out for 233, the depleted SNGPL put up a better show after being sensationally blown for 35 in the first innings by the fiery Junaid’s spell of 7-17 on Friday’s day two.

In their second innings, SNGPL posted 220 with underrated all-rounder Imran Khalid leading a lone fight via an unbeaten 62. The 44-year-old former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq scored 30 before falling to his ex-national side team-mate Abdur Rehman.

Rehman, who earlier in the week announced his retirement from international cricket, grabbed 4-85 while Junaid rook 3-21 to finish with match figures of 10-38.

KRL moved six points behind SNGPL when a fourth success swelled them to 33 points after chasing a small target against NBP at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

KRL, Lahore Blues also seal three-day victories

Earlier, NBP mustered 240 all out in the second innings after Rameez Raja (74) and Ali Asad (69) put on 85 for the second wicket.

Lahore Blues eased their relegation worries on a backburner for the time being thanks to evergreen Aizaz Cheema’s fine bowling against Rawalpindi at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

The veteran seamer claimed 4-71 — and match bag of 9-124 — as Rawalpindi managed 218 all out in the second innings while leaving the hosts chasing a handful of runs.

Peshawar, meanwhile, staged a remarkable comeback after being outplayed by Islamabad for most of the game at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. At stumps they were 352-4 in pursuit of a tough 374-run target.

Peshawar’s renaissance was engineered by unheralded pair of Mohammad Mohsin and Nabi Gul who both reached brilliant maiden first-class centuries. Mohsin, playing only his third match at this level, scored 140 off 238 balls with 16 fours and Nabi marked his entry into big time cricket with a carefree 166-ball knock of 138 (18 fours and one six). The two youngsters added 236 for the third wicket.

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

Sixth round:

Pool ‘A’:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: HBL beat SNGPL by 248 runs.

HBL 270 in 76.4 overs (Imran Farhat 75, Umar Akmal 55, Jamal Anwar 46 not out, Mohammad Waqas 36; Imran Khalid 4-48, Bilawal Bhatti 3-58, Mohammad Imran 2-35) and 233 in 69.2 overs (Imran Farhat 62, Jamal Anwar 37, Ramiz Aziz 33, Umar Gul 29, Abid Ali 24; Asad Ali 4-57, Samiullah Khan Niazi 3-54); SNGPL 35 in 22.2 overs (Bilawal Bhatti 15; Junaid Khan 7-17, Khurram Shahzad 2-0) and 220 in 57.4 overs (Imran Khalid 62 not out, Bilawal Bhatti 35, Khurram Shehzad 34, Misbah-ul-Haq 30, Mohammad Imran 21; Abdur Rehman 4-85, Junaid Khan 3-21).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: FATA 335 in 98.5 overs (Asad Afridi 91, Rehan Afridi 64, Samiullah Jr 58, Mohammad Talha 28, Mohammad Naeem 22; Waqas Ahmed 5-142, Bilal Anwar 3-68, Mohammad Irfan 2-70) and 24-1 in 10 overs; LAHORE WHITES 180 in 71.3 overs (Mohammad Irfan 63, Ameer Hamza 28, Nauman Anwar 21; Asif Afridi 6-39, Mohammad Talha 2-48) and 266 in 84.5 overs (Mohammad Irfan 74, Nauman Anwar 68, Ali Zaryab 29, Afaq Shahid 22, Ameer Hamza 21, Imran Dogar 20; Asif Afridi 4-54, Naseer Akram 2-39, Mohammad Talha 2-53).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: KRL beat NBP by nine wickets.

NBP 139 in 46.3 overs (Sadaf Hussain 5-44, Ahmed Bashir 2-32, Sameen Gul 2-45) and 240 in 73overs (Rameez Raja 74, Ali Asad 69, Kamran Ghulam 34, Shan Masood 23; Sameen Gul 3-54, Sadaf Hussain 3-75, Ahmed Bashir 3-85); KRL 347 in 103.4 overs (Sardar Hasan Raza 165, Mohammad Mohsin 39, Gulraiz Sadaf 29, Azeem Ghumman 28, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 27; Hammad Azam 4-102, Ghulam Mudassar 3-72, Kamran Ghulam 2-27) and 35-1 in 7 overs.

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ISLAMABAD 276 in 76.4 overs (Ali Salman 60, Ali Sarfraz 47, Fahad Iqbal 33, Faizan Riaz 22; Mohammad Ilyas 5-69, Taj Wali 2-50) and 179 in 48.2 overs (Ali Sarfraz 52, Rizwan Ali 28, Mohammad Hamza Nadeem 21 not out, Faizan Riaz 21; Mohammad Ilyas 5-61, Nasir Ahmed 3-46, Musadiq Ahmed 2-39); PESHAWAR 82 in 27.3 overs (Hazrat Shah 6-22, Mohammad Arham 2-21, Mohammad Hamza Nadeem 2-36) and 352-4 in 86 overs (Mohammad Mohsin 140, Nabi Gul 138, Akbar Badshah 36; Mohammad Hamza Nadeem 2-67).

Pool ‘B’:

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: KARACHI WHITES 600-6 declared in 161.1 overs (Shehzar Mohammad 265, Omair Bin Yousuf 163, Saad Ali 129; Ghulam Rehman 2-105, Ali Usman 2-150); MULTAN 244-8 in 99.4 overs (Yousuf Babar 77, Imran Rafiq 47, Waqar Hussain 34, Khalilullah 22, Ali Usman 20; Abdullah Mukaddam 2-58).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Lahore Blues beat Rawalpindi by nine wickets.

LAHORE BLUES 334 in 105.3 overs (Rizwan Hussain 94, Bilawal Iqbal 64, Farhan Khan 55, Zafar Gohar 30, Fahad-ul-Haq 25, Tayyab Tahir 23; Haseeb Azam 4-61, Syed Tauseeq Shah 3-108) and 21-1 in 4.5 overs; RAWALPINDI 136 in 37.3 overs (Mohammad Nawaz 78; Aizaz Cheema 5-53, Shahid Nawaz 2-35, Bilawal Iqbal 2-37) and 218 in 69.2 overs (Tayyab Riaz 66, Umar Waheed 47, Usman Saeed 32, Mukhtar Ahmed 24; Shahid Nawaz 5-60, Aizaz Cheema 4-71).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: PTV 158 in 55.3 overs (Mohammad Irfan Jr 35, Saud Shakeel 25, Hasan Mohsin 24; Imran Khan 4-54, Mohammad Ali 3-22, Luqman Butt 2-47) and 207-5 in 63 overs (Taimur Khan 62, Adnan Mahmood 32, Mohammad Waqas 31, Hasan Mohsin 29 not out, Nihal Mansoor 24 not out; Nasim Shah 2-45); ZTBL 318 in 120.1 overs (Saadullah Ghauri 81, Raza Ali Dar 73, Shakeel Ansar 56, Luqman Butt 31, Anas Mustafa 24; Tabish Khan 7-86, Aamir Jamal 2-50).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad (day two of three): WAPDA 182 in 60.5 overs (Sadaif Mehdi 43, Khalid Usman 30 not out, Mohammad Saad 23, Mohammad Abubakar 23; Kashif Bhatti 5-68, Mohammad Amir 3-31); SSGCL 262-4 in 86 overs (Adil Amin 123, Muzammil Nizam 55, Fawad Alam 36; Ehsan Adil 2-27).

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2018