KARACHI: Former Pakistan spinner Abdur Rehman grabbed an elongated hat-trick on his way to a season’s best 14-wicket haul to help Habib Bank Limited (HBL) seal a two-day victory over Karachi Whites in their opening-round Super Eight fixture of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship here on Thursday.

The 38-year-old slow left-armer followed up his rich bag of 8-70 on Wednesday with six wickets for 50 runs as HBL completed a nine-wicket victory in the Group-II game at the UBL Sports Complex.

After taking a useful lead of 63 runs by extending their overnight first-innings tally of 107-4 to 217 all out, HBL dismissed Karachi Whites for just 107 before knocking off the required target of 45 without much fuss, some 23 minutes before the scheduled close of play.

Rehman got of Karachi Whites skipper Khurram, Manzoor for 12 before having Omair Bin Yousuf (19) held by Saad Ali at silly point on the fifth delivery of his seventh At that point umpires Waleed Yaqub and Mohammad Sajid Afridi removed the bails to indicate the tea break had arrived.

But first ball upon resumption, Rehman clean bowled Mohammad Hasan, who went for an ambitious sweep but missed the line complete. Mohammad Hassaan became Rehman’s third victim on the first ball of the next over when he was given out LBW.

Ex-Pakistan spinner returns season’s best match bag of 14-120

Rehman might have finished with much better figures than 14-120 in 31.4 overs had Mohammad Sami hoisted him for two successive sixes in his 11th and final over. Sami — the former Pakistan speedster who was last out with Umar Akmal holding a skier off Zohaib Khan — eventually top scored with a 27-ball 32 that also included another six of Amad Butt and two fours.

HBl captain Imran Farhat earlier compiled a well-constructed 67 (126 balls, seven fours) before the former Pakistan left-hander was last man out, falling to off-spinner Waleed Ahmed, who finished with 5-53 in 17 overs.

On a pitch that behaved abnormally and needed expert guidance, Karachi Whites’ problems had already multiplied well before start of day two because they arrived at the ground on Thursday morning without their head coach Azam Khan who had flown to Lahore where he his presence was required at the player draft ceremony for next month’s National T20 Cup in Multan.

The onus was obviously on the PCB’s domestic cricket committee, which is headed by the ever-present board employee Haroon Rashid, to arrange a replacement — in this case Iqbal Imam — for Azam. But in their haste, none of the officials even bothered to contact Iqbal who had earlier this season teamed up with Karachi for three matches when Azam, the ex-Test batsman, was away with the Pakistan Under-19 for the Asia Cup.

Saleem Jaffer’s charges not only earned nine points but also got two extra days of rest before their next fixture against Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) at the same venue from next Tuesday.

SSGCL were poised to take first-innings lead after Peshawar reached 248-6 in reply to the departmental outfit’s 376 at the Southend Club. Wicket-keeper Gohar Ali remained the last hope for Peshawar with an undefeated contribution of 82.

The setback for SSGCL was that Pakistan paceman Mohammad Amir delivered 14 wicketless overs after having scored 33 in the morning as his side added 40 to their day one’s tally of 336-8.

In-form Test strike bowler Mohammad Abbas returned brilliant analysis of 4-16 in 12 overs as holders Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) reduced Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) to 121-6 at the SBP Sports Complex.

Preparing for the upcoming three-match series against New Zealand, Abbas — the architect of Pakistan’s 1-0 defeat of Australia in two-match series last month — was on song with the wickets of Mohammad Akhlaq (6), Ayaz Tasawwar (0) and Adnan Raees (13) before dismissing Aamir Sajjad (19) in the closing stages.

Wapda skipper Salman Butt fell cheaply for only eight when the former Pakistan captain was trapped LBW by young paceman Musa Khan. But another ex-national star Kamran Akmal battled hard to make an unbeaten 46.

Earlier, captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Hussain Talat posted half-centuries to help their side collect 371 after the champions had resumed at 232-5. The 44-year-old Misbah, the ex-Pakistan captain, hit exactly 50 (126 balls, five fours) while Hussain scored 76 (149 balls, eight fours and two sixes).

Ex-Pakistan bowlers Mohammad Asif and Zulfiqar Babar picked up four wickets each for 65 and 100 runs, respectively.

Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) secured a slim but vital lead of four runs by restricting Lahore Blues to 203 all out at the NBP Sports Complex before reaching 10-0 in their second innings.

Irfan Haider was the standout batsman for Lahore with an unconquered 96 with his 190-ball knock including 10 fours and one six. Nayyar Abbas snared four wickets for 52 with fellow slow left-armer Nauman Ali taking 3-58.

Earlier, Zafar Gohar claimed two more wickets to finish with 5-74 in 34.4 overs after KRL began the day at 202-7.

Close of play scores and result on Thursday (day two of four):

Super Eight stage, first round:

Group-I:

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: SNGPL 371 in 140.1 overs (Hussain Talat 76, Asad Shafiq 50, Misbah-ul-Haq 50, Khurram Shehzad 48, Iftikhar Ahmed 38, Imran Khalid 30, Imran Butt 28; Mohammad Asif 4-65, Zulfiqar Babar 4-100); WAPDA 121-6 in 34 overs (Kamran Akmal 46 not out; Mohammad Abbas 4-16).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: KRL 207 in 93.4 overs (Junaid Ali 49, Usman Arshad 45, Mohammad Mohsin 42, Nayyar Abbas 34; Zafar Gohar 5-74, Aizaz Cheema 3-45) and 10-0 in 5 overs; LAHORE BLUES 203 in 76.5 overs (Irfan Haider 96 not out, Rizwan Hussain 33, Jahangir Mirza 31; Nayyar Abbas 4-52, Nauman Ali 3-58).

Group-II:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: HBL beat Karachi Whites by nine wickets.

KARACHI WHITES 154 in 54.4 overs (Hafiz Asad Baig 42 not out, Khurram Manzoor 33, Mohammad Hasan 26, Omair Bin Yousuf 24; Abdur Rehman 8-70, Khurram Shahzad 2-42) and 107 in 26.4 overs (Mohammad Sami 32, Zeeshan Jamil 25; Abdur Rehman 6-50, Umar Gul 2-20); HBL 217 in 68 overs (Imran Farhat 67, Saad Khan 53, Umar Akmal 32, Amad Butt 27; Waleed Ahmed 5-53, Hassaan Khan 2-55) and 47-1 in 13.3 overs (Saad Khan 25 not out).

At Southend Club, Karachi: SSGCL 376 in 100.4 overs (Umar Amin 172, Awais Zia 62, Mohammad Amir 33, Adil Amin 31; Mohammad Ilyas 4-69, Zahid Mahmood 2-102); PESHAWAR 248-6 in 79 overs (Gohar Ali 82 not out, Nabi Gul 47, Mohammad Mohsin 23; Mohammad Irfan 3-54, Ahmed Jamal 2-43).

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2018