KARACHI: The first semi-final of the Quaid-i-Azam One-day Cup in Lahore on Thursday turned out to be a bland affair as Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) cruised home by five wickets after dismissing Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) for a lowly 164.

Wapda’s route to their second successive final — in which they will meet the winners of Friday’ second semi-final between Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Pakistan Television (PTV) — in this format this year was made easier by KRL’s lack of application on the batting front.

Abundance of overnight dew resulted in the game being reduced to a 49-over fixture with the scheduled 9:00am start being delayed by 15 minutes. It was obvious that the side winning the toss would opt to bowl first and when KRL stand-in skipper Nauman Ali — who took over the mantle after Usman Arshad reported unfit — called incorrectly the advantage clearly lay with Salman Butt’s charges.

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By the time the first Powerplay was done and dusted, KRL were in bad shape at 33-2 against the menacing new-ball pairing of Pakistan discards Mohammad Irfan and Ehsan Adil.

At 57-4 after 20 overs, KRL were in serious danger of being dismissed for even under 100. But Abdul Rehman Muzammil (34 off 57 balls, two boundaries) and Mohammad Mohsin (48 off 60, four fours and one six) added 60 to partially improve the gloomy situation.

The tragic run out of Mohsin, however, led to a flurry of wickets tumbling at the backend of the innings as KRL folded up in meek surrender inside 44 overs.

The giant frame of Irfan grabbed two wickets for 16 runs in eight overs and Ehsan claimed 3-29 in 7.2 overs while the experienced Zulfiqar Babar took 2-32 in 10 overs with fellow slow left-armer Khalid Usman chipping in with 1-28 in 10 overs.

The big disappointment from Wapda’s viewpoint was Wahab Riaz — the Pakistan left-arm speed­ster who was a shock inclusion in the first Australia Test in Dubai last month — whose eight overs were taken for 52 runs and the wicket of tailender Sameen Gul.

Wapda lost Kamran Akmal early in the chase for 10 before Riffatullah Mohmand (19) and Salman (21) also followed by the time total had moved to 56.

It was then left to the underrated left-hander Ayaz Tasawwar to maintain the momentum with a busy 82-ball contribution of exactly 50 (five boundaries) in Wapda’s grasp.

Zahid Mansoor also played a key role in the decisive partnership of 65 with Ayaz. He ended up scoring an undefeated 32 from 48 deliveries while striking three boundaries.

Nauman’s tactless captaincy also compounded the problems faced by KRL since Sadaf Hussain was not reintroduced into the attack early enough when wickets were badly needed in the middle overs after the left-arm quickie had scalped both Kamran and Riffatullah in his opening burst.

And despite losing two wickets too many Wapda still won convincingly with no less than 77 balls left unused as they head into Sunday’s titled-decider in a happy frame of mind.

Scoreboard

KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES:

Arsalan Arshad c Ayaz b Ehsan 12
Jaahid Ali c Kamran b Khalid 25
Gulraiz Sadaf c Salman b Irfan 3
Shoaib Ahmed Minhas b Zulfiqar 4
A. Rehman Muzammil st Kamran b Zulfiqar 34
Mohammad Mohsin run out 48
Saif Badar c Akhlaq b Irfan 3
Nauman Ali lbw b Ehsan 9
Sameen Gul c Riffatullah b Wahab 7
Sadaf Hussain b Ehsan 8
Sohaibullah not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-7, W-4) 11

TOTAL (all out, 43.2 overs) 164

FALL OF WKTS: 1-21, 2-24, 3-39, 4-57, 5-117, 6-128, 7-147, 8-148, 9-164.

BOWLING: Mohammad Irfan 8-1-16-2 (2w); Ehsan Adil 7.2-0-29-3; Khalid Usman 10-1-28-1; Zulfiqar Babar 10-0-32-2; Wahab Riaz 8-0-52-1 (2w).

WAPDA:

Kamran Akmal c Saif b Sadaf 10
Riffatullah Mohmand c Jaahid b Sadaf 19
Salman Butt lbw b Sohaibullah 21
Mohammad Akhlaq c Gulraiz b Nauman 14
Ayaz Tasawwar b Sohaibullah 50
Zahid Mansoor not out 32
Khalid Usman not out 8

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-9) 12

TOTAL (for five wkts, 37.1 overs) 166

FALL OF WKTS: 1-14, 2-45, 3-56, 4-88, 5-153.

DID NOT BAT: Ehsan Adil, Wahab Riaz, Zulfiqar Babar, Mohammad Irfan.

BOWLING: Sadaf Hussain 8-1-34-2 (2w); Sameen Gul 6-1-27-0; Sohaibullah 8-0-39-2 (5w); Nauman Ali 10-2-33-1 (1w); Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 4.1-0-18-0; Arsalan Arshad 1-0-12-0 (1w).

RESULT: Wapda won by five wickets.

UMPIRES: Ahmed Shahab and Qaiser Waheed.

TV UMPIRE: Nasir Hussain Sr.

MATCH REFEREE: Aziz-ur-Rehman.

SECOND SEMI-FINAL: HBL vs PTV, Friday (9:00am).

Published in Dawn, November 2nd, 2018