KARACHI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finally ended their three-match winless sequence against Federal Areas when they scrapped to a three-wicket success over the reigning Pakistan Cup champions at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

Chasing 270, a cluster of wickets at the backend infused a new lease of life but the cool-headed presence of Khushdil Shah and the charismatic Sohail Khan carried Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to victory when the latter disdainfully hoisted Mohammad Nawaz for a huge six after two runs were needed from the final three deliveries.

Khushdil, who surprisingly was overlooked for the Pakistan Super League 4, had a narrow escape on the third ball of that last over when Ahmed Shehzad spilled a simple catch on long-off boundary. But the left-handed finished on a 56-ball 40 with a brace of boundaries while Sohail’s 18-ball 25 included two sixes and one four.

The foundation for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s win was laid by Mohammad Saad (64 off 84 balls, seven fours and one six) and Adil Amin (70 off 75, five fours and two sixes) as the third-wicket pair put on 107.

For the second day running, the side winning the toss opted to bat first and failed to post 300 — the benchmark total at this venue — as Mohammad Rizwan’s side was restricted to 269 all out in 45.3 overs with Wahab Riaz once again nudging the national selectors by grabbing five wickets despite last playing an ODI in June 2017, during the ICC Champions Trophy, against India at Edgbaston.

At one point, however, the two-time champions were on course for the magical 300-run mark when Shehzad was dominating the opening partnership of 94 with Israrullah. But Wahab changed the complexion of the innings by striking four quick blows in three overs from his end.

Shehzad, another player on the comeback trail, looked in wonderful touch with a series of spanking cuts and pulls as the right-handed Pakistan discard struck 56 from 60 balls with eight boundaries.

Soon after reaching his half-century with a delightful cut off Wahab, Shehzad was nicely held in the covers by Adil. In the same over the 33-year-old left-armer had Nihal Mansoor was caught behind by Adnan Akmal for four.

Rizwan, who scored two centuries during the ODI series against Australia in the UAE, unwisely tried to pull Wahab but only managed to lob a high catch for the bowler to get underneath.

And when Saud Shakeel (4) was run out, Federal Areas had lost five wickets for 29 runs in 35 deliveries. The left-handed Israrullah, however, kept one end intact before he too got run out after making 77 off 74 balls (10 fours).

It was only because of Nawaz that Federal Areas surpassed the 250 mark with the Pakistan T20 all-rounder contributing run-a-ball 62 that included seven boundaries.

Wahab, who was declared the man-of-the-match, ended up with figures of 5-52 — his fifth such haul in List A matches — while fellow Pakistan reject Sohail Khan claimed 2-35.

Scoreboard

FEDERAL AREAS:

Ahmed Shehzad c Adil b Wahab 56

Israrullah run out 77

Nihal Mansoor c Adnan b Wahab 4

Mohammad Rizwan c and b Wahab 3

Rameez Raja c Adnan b Wahab 6

Saud Shakeel run out 4

Mohammad Nawaz c Saad b Sohail 62

Bilal Asif c Wahab b Adil 16

Waqas Maqsood not out 9

Sameer Gul b Wahab 1

Zia-ul-Haq b Sohail 22

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-7) 9

TOTAL (all out, 45.3 overs) 269

FALL OF WKTS: 1-94, 2-98, 3-104, 4-119, 5-126, 6-164, 7-205, 8-237, 9-238.

BOWLING: Sohail Khan 8.3-0-35-2 (1w); Mohammad Irfan Jr 7-0-47-0; Umaid Asif 7-0-52-0 (2w); Wahab Riaz 10-0-52-5 (3w); Irfan Khan 5-0-37-0; Adil Amin

5-0-32-1 (1w); Khushdil Shah 3-0-12-0.

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA:

Salman Butt c and b Sameen 15

Abid Ali c Waqas b Zia 20

Mohammad Saad c Israrullah b Bilal 64

Adil Amin c Rameez b Sameen 70

Khushdil Shah not out 40

Irfan Khan c Shehzad b Sameen 5

Adnan Akmal lbw b Bilal 12

Wahab Riaz c Rizwan b Zia 6

Sohail Khan not out 25

EXTRAS (LB-4, W-10, NB-3) 17

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 49.4 overs) 274

FALL OF WKTS: 1-30, 2-55, 3-162, 4-184, 5-198, 6-226, 7-238.

DID NOT BAT: Mohammad Irfan Jr, Umaid Asif.

BOWLING: Waqas Maqsood 8-0-44-0 (1nb, 1w); Sameen Gul 9-0-66-3 (2nb, 5w); Zia-ul-Haq 10-1-41-2 (2w); Mohammad Nawaz 9.4-90-54-0; Bilal Asif 10-0-49-2 (2w); Israrullah 3-0-16-0.

RESULT: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won by three wickets.

UMPIRES: Imtiaz Iqbal and Faisal Afridi.

TV UMPIRE: Qaiser Waheed.

MATCH REFEREE: Iftikhar Ahmed.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Wahab Riaz.

THURSDAY’S FIXTURE: Sindh vs Balochistan (2:00pm PST).

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2019