Multan, Islamabad score contrasting wins to make One-day Cup quarters

KARACHI: Multan and Islamabad were forced to take different paths to claim the remaining two quarter-final places in the Quaid-i-Azam One-Day Cup as the league phase concluded with the staging of the seventh round on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) needed some luck to qualify for the knockout stage after they were upstaged by their arch-rivals National Bank of Pakistan in the Pool ‘A’ clash on the DLS method. The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) came to HBL’s rescue by denting Peshawar’s hopes in a thrilling six-run victory.

The focus, however, was on the two fixtures that mattered most. A rollicking opening partnership of 263 between Mukhtar Ahmed (155 off 130 balls, 19 fours and four sixes) and Zeeshan Malik (118 off 116, 12 fours and four sixes) spurred Rawalpindi to a commanding 372-9 at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

But Multan then raced to 314-4 in 41.1 overs on the back of a spectacular undefeated 166 (115 balls, 20 fours and four sixes) from their opener Zeeshan Ashraf before the match was halted by fading light. At that stage Multan were 29 runs ahead compared to Rawalpindi in the same number of overs and were declared deserving winners to clinch the fourth spot in the final group standings.

Islamabad, meanwhile, rode on a dazzling all-round display from guest player Fahad Iqbal to comfortably beat Lahore Whites by a clinical margin of 64 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

The Karachi-based Fahad, the younger brother of former Test batsman Faisal Iqbal, first struck a superb 122 in a 120-ball innings adorned with 12 boundaries and one six as Islamabad posted 316-9.

HBL also reach knockout round

Seamer Zaid Alam starred with the ball to claim 5-36 in eight overs but his heroics were in vain when Lahore Whites faded away to 252-9 against Fahad’s tidy off-spinning deliveries. Fahad eventually finished with five for 42 in 10 overs, while Islamabad retained fourth place with eight points.

At the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad HBL reached 274 all out in 49.1 overs with Pakistan discard Umar Akmal bludgeoning 84 off 62 balls with five sixes and six fours.

NBP, in reply, had advanced to 251-4 in 45 overs when the game was stopped prematurely by poor light with them 23 runs ahead of their rivals on DLS calculations.

HBL, however, breathed a sigh of relief when Peshawar failed to chase down 254 against Fata at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium in Abbottabad. HBL held onto third spot on a better net run-rate than Islamabad.

NBP emerged outright winners of Pool ‘A’ when Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) suffered a heartbreaking four-run loss to already-eliminated Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) as they reached 207-7 in 46 overs after Misbah-ul-Haq’s side had been dismissed for 238 at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) and Pakistan Television (PTV) retained the top two berths in Pool ‘B’ after both secured victories against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) and Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), respectively.

Opener Nihal Mansoor stood for PTV with an unbeaten contribution of 133 (153 balls, 13 fours and three sixes) as his team totalled 307-5 in their 50 overs.

Former international Saad Nasim led from the front with exactly 100 not out — 99 balls, nine boundaries — to inspire Lahore Blues to a 37-run defeat of Karachi Whites at the LCCA Ground in Lahore.

Wednesday’s results:

Seventh round:

Pool ‘A’:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: NBP beat HBL by 23 runs (DLS Method).

HBL 274 in 49.1 overs (Umar Akmal 84, Ramiz Aziz 45, Sajjad Ali 42, Zohaib Khan 39; Ghulam Mudassar 3-41, Bilal Asif 3-48, Umaid Asif 2-57); NBP 251-4 in 45 overs (Umar Siddique 72, Ahsan Ali 63, Akbar-ur-Rehman 45, Danish Aziz 41 not out, Rameez Raja 20; Zohaib Khan 3-47).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Islamabad beat Lahore Whites by 64 runs.

ISLAMABAD 316-9 in 50 overs (Fahad Iqbal 122, Ali Sarfraz 66, Faizan Riaz 32, Rohail Nazir 23, Ashfaq Ali 20, Farmanullah 20; Zaid Alam 5-36); LAHORE WHITES 252-9 in 50 overs (Imran Dogar 66, Usman Salahuddin 44, Nauman Anwar 36, Mohammad Irfan 26, Asim Ali 25; Fahad Iqbal 5-42).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: SNGPL beat KRL by four runs (DLS Method).

SNGPL 238 in 49.5 overs (Khurram Shehzad 49, Imran Khalid 47, Naeemuddin 30, Ali Waqas 30, Raees Ahmed 26; Nauman Ali 3-40, Shayan Sheikh 3-50, Sameen Gul 2-35); KRL 207-7 in 46 overs (Abdul Rehman Muzammil 59, Mohammad Mohsin 44, Gulraiz Sadaf 43, Usman Arshad 30; Yasir Shah 3-47, Musa Khan 2-53).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: Fata beat Peshawar by six runs.

FATA 253 in 45 overs (Asif Afridi 74, Rehan Afridi 43, Nisar Afridi 39, Khushdil Shah 29, Fazal-ur-Rehman 22; Taj Wali 5-49, Sajid Khan 2-43); PESHAWAR 237 in 38.3 overs (Gohar Ali 69, Ashfaq Ahmed 46, Sajid khan 43, Imran Khan Jr 24, Musadiq Ahmed 21; Hayatullah 3-35, Mohammad Asad 3-42, Zulqarnain 2-54).

Pool ‘B’:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: Lahore Blues beat Karachi Whites by 37 runs.

LAHORE BLUES 279-5 in 50 overs (Saad Nasim 100 not out, Mohammad Zubair Malik 55, Salman Fayyaz 44 not out, Tayyab Tahir 37, Irfan Haider 21; Israr Ahmed Awan 2-58, Abdullah Mukaddam 2-63); KARACHI WHITES 242 in 46 overs (Saad Ali 81, Khurram Manzoor 33, Moazzam Malik 22, Shehzar Mohammad 20; Hamza Nazar 2-38, Hasan Qadeer 2-43, Zafar Gohar 2-52).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Multan beat Rawalpindi by 29 runs (DLS Method).

RAWALPINDI 372-9 in 50 overs (Mukhtar Ahmed 155, Zeeshan Malik 118, Naved Malik 24, Asif Ali 23; Ali Usman 2-55, Saddam Afridi 2-70, Ghulam Rehman 2-71); MULTAN 314-4 in 41.1 overs (Zeeshan Ashraf 166 not out, Hasnain Bukhari 46 not out, Yousuf Babar 45, Imran Rafiq 40; Mohammad Nawaz 2-55, Asif Ali 2-58).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: SSGCL beat ZTBL by five wickets.

ZTBL 141 in 32.4 overs (Ali Nasir 23, Saadullah Ghauri 21; Usama Mir 4-44, Mohammad Amir 2-20, Zia-ul-Haq 2-56); SSGCL 142-5 in 21.1 overs (Awais Zia 62, Umar Amin 38; Mohammad Ali 2-52, Mohammad Umair 2-73).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: PTV beat Wapda by 76 runs.

PTV 307-5 in 50 overs (Nihal Mansoor 133 not out, Hasan Mohsin 58, Ali Imran 46; Zahid Mansoor 2-43, Wahab Riaz 2-49); WAPDA 231 in 41 overs (Mohammad Ikhlaq 77, Zahid Mansoor 52, Mohammad Abubakar 26; Ali Imran 4-30, Mohammad Jr 2-44).

Final standings

(Tabulated under played, won lost, points, net run-rate):

Pool ‘A’

NBP 7 6 1 12 +1.615

KRL 7 5 2 10 +0.652

HBL 7 4 3 8 -0.115

Islamabad 7 4 3 8 -0.165

SNGPL 7 3 4 6 -0.012

Peshawar 7 3 4 6 -0.570

Fata 7 2 5 4 -0.471

Lahore Whites 7 1 6 2 -1.054

Pool ‘B’