KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited (HBL) realised their dream of a rare grand slam this season on Saturday after holding off Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL)’s desperate bid of retaining the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship here at the UBL Sports Complex.

A sporting declaration by Misbah-ul-Haq left HBL the option of either going for the 263-run target or surviving 79 overs. The bankers opted for the latter as they hung on grimly to thwart SNGPL lifting the trophy. They eventually ended up totalling183-6. Appropriately enough, Imran Farhat (22 off 92 balls) )was there to shepherd his side to safety in a frenetic last session during Misbah’s charges not only crowded the batsmen but kept umpires on their toes with their constant appealing in order to grab the remaining wickets.

The situation almost got out of control as Misbah was spoken to by the umpires on several occasions to keep calm. The desperation from the fielding team was understandable because they had nothing to lose even of HBL had won the five-day fixture outright.

After wiping off the first-innings deficit of 168 on Friday’s penultimate day, SNGPL needed quick runs and by stumps on day four they were in front by 168 on a pitch which played true on the last two days.

Misbah, who is not known for being a proactive leader during his illustrious career, wanted to take the gamble by throwing the bait to the opponents, who only needed to bat out the remainder of the day to celebrate winning a second trophy.

Outgoing champions engaged themselves in frenzied appealing

Upfront SNGPL threw their bats at everything in a tactic that saw a remarkable 94 runs coming off mere 8.4 overs in a matter of just 43 minutes. Imran Khalid, who resumed at 41, thrashed his way to 48-ball 73 that included four sixes and three fours.

Misbah, with whom Imran added 81, extended his Friday score of 14 to 44 in definitely his final first-class appearance while Bilawal Bhatti hoisted three sixes in an 11-ball 30 when the innings was closed at 430-7.

HBL batted through 16 overs to go into lunch at 48-1 with first-innings centurion Abid Ali falling LBW to former Pakistan international Asad Ali for eight.

Umar Akmal, who was later adjudicated the man-of-the-final for contributing 113 and 52, was undone by paceman Bilawal after outscoring Agha Salman (24 off 91 balls) in the partnership of 72 after HBL had slumped to 72-3.

HBL — who won the Quaid-i-Azam One-day Cup after sealing a 29-run victory against Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) in the final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore — had every reason to celebrate lifting the coveted first-class crown along with a handsome purse of Rs3 million.

SNGPL had to settle for the runners-up trophy and cash prize of Rs2 million, while the remaining individual awards if Rs100,000 each went to Karachi Whites’ Khurram Manzoor (best batsman, 886 runs in the championship), Lahore Blues’ Aizaz Cheema (best bowler, 59 wickets) and Peshawar’s Gohar Ali (best wicket-keeper).

However, despite giving former Pakistan paceman and ex-national selector Saleem Jaffer many reasons to smile in his first season with the HBL, the bank’s top management neither acknowledged the herculean team effort put in by Imran and his charges nor announced any incentive for the deserving champions. Sadly, over the five days here none of the top officials ever bothered to visit the ground despite the fact that the HBL’s headquarters is in the city.

Sohail Mazhar, the hardworking team manager, also played a huge part in keeping the players in high spirits throughout the season with his livewire presence.

Scoreboard

SNGPL (1st Innings) 304 (Misbah-ul-Haq 91, Khurram Shehzad 47, Mohammad Imran 40, Ali Waqas 38; Abdur Rehman 4-91, Khurram Shehzad 3- -65).

HABIB BANK (1st Innings) 471 (Abid Ali 134, Umar Akmal 113, Ramiz Aziz 58 not out, Agha Salman 56).

SNGPL (2nd Innings, overnight 336-5):

Imran Butt c Jamal b Rehman 95

Ali Waqas c sub b Salman 65

Khurram Shehzad c Saad b Rehman 40

Adnan Akmal b Umar Gul 17

Iftikhar Ahmed c Imran b Rehman 52

Imran Khalid c Umar Akmal b Rehman 73

Misbah-ul-Haq not out 44

Bilawal Bhatti c Jamal b Khurram 30

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-9) 14

TOTAL (for seven wkts decl, 78.3 overs) 430

FALL OF WKTS: 1-170, 2-174, 3-209, 4-269, 5-306, 6-387, 7-430.

BOWLING: Umar Gul 8-0-67-1; Khurram Shehzad 4-1-14-0; Abdur Rehman 35-1-158-4; Faheem Ashraf 9-1-49-0; Agha Salman 17-1-86-1; Saad Khan 4-0-27-0.

HABIB BANK LIMITED (2nd Innings):

Abid Ali lbw b Asad 8

Jamal Anwar c Ali Waqas b Bilawal 31

Saad Khan c Imran Butt b Bilawal 16

Agha Salman lbw b Iftikhar 24

Umar Akmal b Bilawal 52

Imran Farhat not out 22

Ramiz Aziz lbw b Iftikhar 2

Faheem Ashraf not out 8

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-1, W-2, NB-7, PR-5) 20

TOTAL (for six wkts, 78.2 overs) 183

FALL OF WKTS: 1-32, 2-61, 3-72, 4-144, 5-151, 6-174.

BOWLING: Asad Ali 9-1-35-1 (3nb); Mohammad Imran 7-1-20-0 (3nb, 1w); Iftikhar Ahmed 18.2-13-18-2; Imran Khalid 19-9-28-0; Bilawal Bhatti 15-3-48-3; Azizullah 5-1-15-0; Khurram Shehzad 8-4-10-0.

RESULT: Match drawn (HBL declared champions on first innings lead).

UMPIRES: Mohammad Asif and Faisal Afridi.

MATCH REFEREE: Shahid Butt.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Umar Akmal.

Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2018