KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited (HBL) completed a nine-wicket win against Peshawar to reach their second final of the ongoing season, while setting a Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship title-decider with holders Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL).

In the last round of matches in the Super Eight phase, the Quaid-i-Azam One-day Cup champions HBL needed nine points from the Group-II fixture at the UBL Sports Complex — a target they duly achieved at 2:16pm on Wednesday’s day three when Mohammad Waqas cut spinner Sajid Khan to the boundary after his team was set a modest 111. The left-handed opener, who put on 76 with Sajjad Ali (34 off 45 balls, four fours), struck 54 from 64 deliveries with the aid of nine boundaries.

Earlier, Peshawar could add just 83 to their Tuesday’s tally of 33-3 before being bowled out for 116. Skipper Akbar Badshah waged a one-man battle until he was caught behind by Jamal Anwar off pace-bowling all-rounder Amad Butt for a 73-ball 49 (nine fours).

SSGCL, Wapda seal inconsequential victories

Zohaib Khan, the all-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls slow left-armers, snared four wickets for 26 runs in 9.1 overs with Amad claiming 3-28 in nine overs, while former Pakistan paceman Umar Gul took 2-24 from 10 overs.

The Saleem Jaffer-coached HBL topped Group-II with 21 points — two more than Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) who drubbed Karachi Whites, also in three days, by an innings and 125 runs at the Southend Club.

After adding another 40 to their Tuesday’s score of 392-8, SSGCL closed their innings at 432-8 with Fawad Alam (170 off 258 balls, 17 boundaries) and Zia-ul-Haq 930 off 72, five fours) putting on exactly 100 in their the unbroken partnership.

Karachi Whites, who mustered 158 in the first innings, were then sent packing within 40 overs for 149 with stand-in skipper Mohammad Hasan hammering an 84-ball 83 with that included 16 fours, in only 99 minutes.

Slow left-armer Kashif Bhatti bagged 4-25 in 10.1 overs to return match haul of 8-73. Pakistan limited-overs paceman Usman khan Shinwari captured three wickets for 33 runs in 10 overs.

Last season’s runners-up Wapda sealed a five-wicket victory against Lahore Blues but the result at the NBP Sports Complex on Thursday’s fourth day was no good for Salman Butt’s side despite finishing level with SNGPL in Group-I on 19 points. And since Wapda had already lost to SNGPL in their opening Super Eight clash, they failed to make the Dec 4-8 final at the UBL Sports Complex.

Salman, however, stood out with a brilliant 85 (off 97 balls, 13 fours) as the former Pakistan captain shared an unfinished sixth-wicket stand of 125 with Mohammad Saleem (48) as Wapda reached 231-5.

A delayed declared by Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) allowed SNGPL to escape defeat at the SBP Sports Complex. Already enjoying an overnight lead of 314, KRL chose to bat on after resuming the day 233-5. They ultimately declared at 278-5 with opener Azeem Ghumman scoring a painstaking 142 off 337 balls in a stay of 439 minutes.

SNGPL, understandably, made no attempt to go the improbable 360-run target as they survived 79.4 overs to muster 129-7. Left-arm spinner Nauman Ali picked up three wickets for 14 runs in 32 overs with 23 of them being maidens. Among his victims was ex-Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, trapped LBW for one.

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

Super Eight stage, third round:

Group-I:

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Match drawn.

KRL 272 in 70.3 overs (Saif Badar 118, Gulraiz Sadaf 41, Abdul Rehman Muzammil 21, Azeem Ghumman 20; Mohammad Musa Khan 3-66, Samiullah Khan Niazi 2-48, Bilawal Bhatti 2-50) and 278-5 declared in 107 overs (Azeem Ghumman 142 not out, Nauman Ali 50 not out, Saif Badar 37;

Samiullah Khan Niazi 2-34, Iftikhar Ahmed 2-85); SNGPL 191 in 79.4 overs (Ali Waqas 43, Iftikhar Ahmed 36, Khurram Shehzad 24; Nauman Ali 4-36, Yasir Ali 3-43) and 129-7 in 82 overs (Ali Waqas 32, Mohammad Imran 21 not out, Iftikhar Ahmed 20; Nauman Ali 3-14, Sadaf Hussain 3-29).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Wapda beat Lahore Blues by five wickets.

LAHORE BLUES 193 in 78.1 overs (Ahmed Akram 57, Bilawal Iqbal 36, Saad Nasim 28; Zulfiqar Babar 6-58, Khalid Usman 4-48) and 246 in 111 overs (Zafar Gohar 57, Saad Nasim 41, Asfand Mehran 41, Bilawal Iqbal 24; Zulfiqar Babar 5-83, Zahid Mansoor 2-36); WAPDA 210 in 76 overs (Mohammad Ikhlaq 81, Ali Shan 31, Mohammad Abubakar 22; Aizaz Cheema 4-38, Asfand Mehran 3-36, Zafar Gohar 3-67) and 231-5 in 64.5 overs (Salman Butt 85 not out, Mohammad Saleem 48 not out, Sadaif Mehdi 29, Zahid Mansoor 22, Mohammad Ikhlaq 22; Aizaz Cheema 2-23, Asfand Mehran 2-40).

Matches finishing on Wednesday’s day three:

Group-II:

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

PESHAWAR 237 in 66.5 overs (Mehran Ibrahim 107 not out, Sajid Khan 27, Akbar Badshah 24, Sahibzada Farhan 23; Umar Gul 4-93, Khurram Shahzad 2-45) and 116 in 39.1 overs (Akbar Badshah 49, Sahibzada Farhan 20; Zohaib Khan 4-26, Amad Butt 3-28, Umar Gul 2-24); HBL 243 in 77.2 overs (Amad Butt 48, Israr-ul-Haq 40, Saad Khan 38, Zohaib Khan 36, Ramiz Aziz 22; Mohammad Ilyas 4-61, Israrullah 2-16, Sajid Khan 2-83) and 114-1 in 20.5 overs (Mohammad Waqas 54 not out, Sajjad Ali 34).

At Southend Club, Karachi: SSGCL beat Karachi Whites by an innings and 125 runs.

KARACHI WHITES 158 in 69.4 overs (Omair Bin Yousuf 92 not out; Kashif Bhatti 4-48, Ahmed Jamal 3-36, Awais Zia 2-13) and 149 in 39.1 overs (Mohammad Hasan 83, Omair Bin Yousuf 24; Kashif Bhatti 4-25, Usman Khan Shinwari 3-33); SSGCL 432-8 declared in 117 overs (Fawad Alam 170 not out, Awais Zia 66, Kashif Bhatti 51, Adil Amin 36, Zia-ul-Haq 30 not out; Adeel Malik 3-75, Waqar Anwar 2-93).

Final standings

(Tabulated under played, won, lost, drawn, points):

Group-I

SNGPL 3 2 0 1 19

Wapda 3 2 1 0 19

KRL 3 1 1 1 12

Lahore Blues 3 0 3 0 0

Group-II

Habib Bank 3 2 0 1 21

SSGCL 3 2 0 1 19

Peshawar 3 1 2 0 6

Karachi Whites 3 0 3 0 0

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2018