KARACHI: A second consecutive century by Iftikhar Ahmed and equally fine batting from Sami Aslam and Saad Ali inspired Punjab to a seven-wicket victory over outgoing Pakistan Cup champions Federal Areas in an inconsequential fixture at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on Monday.

Chasing 322 on a batting paradise, Punjab casually motored to their first success in three matches on the back of successive century partnerships — both involving Pakistan discard Iftikhar who scored 105 in a losing cause against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last Friday — with Iftikhar, appropriately enough, ending the game with a massive six off left-arm speedster Sadaf Hussain to finish on an 89-ball 109.

Iftikhar’s dazzling knock altogether contained six sixes and as many fours, while his unbroken stand with the left-handed Saad (76 off 50 balls, 11 fours and one six) was 148.

Undeterred by the dismissals of captain Kamran Akmal (15) and Khurram Manzoor (39 off 47 balls, seven boundaries) upfront with 65 runs on the board, the 23-year-old Sami laid the foundation with a splendid 73-ball innings of 81 (10 fours and two sixes) while dominating a third-wicket stand of 116 with Iftikhar, who along with then just toyed with the Federal Areas bowling.

The left-handed Sami, who had been out of the national senior side since October 2017, looked in supreme touch with sumptuous strokes until he was he was deceived by a leg-break from Asad Afridi.

For the 28-year-old Iftikhar, who was deservingly declared man-of-the-match, it was his eighth List A ton in 78 matches.

Earlier, Federal Areas wasted a golden opportunity of piling up a much bigger total than they managed in the end after Ahmed Shehzad and Israrullah given the side a wonderful start of 158. The openers were not separated until they had batted through to exactly the midpoint of the innings after Kamran had elected to bowl first at the toss.

Shehzad was the first of four successive wickets for Waleed Ahmed — son of former Pakistan off-spinner and current national selector Tauseef Ahmed — in the space of 26 deliveries from the end where the 26-year-old talented off-spinner was operating.

Waleed had Shehzad caught by Saad Ali for 78-ball 78 that included eight fours and a brace of sixes before the same combination removed Sad Shakeel for two. Federal Areas then lost their captain Mohammad Rizwan for 13 when the Pakistan wicket-keeper/batsman went for an expansive drive was bowled through the yawning gap between bat and ball.

Israrullah was extremely fortunate to earn reprieve from TV umpire Zameer Haider in a clear-cut stumping verdict which was decided in favour of the left-hander. But Waleed was not to be denied when he finally managed to win a leg-before-wicket decision with Israrullah only four shy of a sixth List A century.

The departure of Israrullah for a fine 96 from 95 balls (11 fours and one six) brought Punjab another wicket in the very next over as Rameez Raja — the top-scorer in the heavy defeat against Sindh on Saturday — was cleaned up by Iftikhar’s off-spin for a six-ball duck.

It was then left to injury-plagued Pakistan batsman Sohaib Maqsood to hang in there long enough to push his side within striking distance of the magical 300 figure. The tall right-hander was in punishing mood as he hoisted five sixes in a 45-ball 55, which included a brace of fours, before he was trapped by Mohammad Sami, after having added 59 with Mohammad Nawaz (25).

Cameos from Asad Afridi (19 off 13) and Bilal Asif (16 off 8) eventually carried to 321 all out in 49.4 overs.

With both teams already out of reckoning for Friday’s title-decider, this fixture was played for nothing but pride as Punjab finally score their first points.

Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lead the standings with five points but neither are guaranteed a place in the final since Sindh are also very much in contention, provided Umar Gul’s charges win both their remaining games.

If Sindh lose against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday, then the last two league-round matches will be only of academic interest because Balochistan will also be thorough to the final along with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Scoreboard

FEDERAL AREAS:

Ahmed Shehzad c Saad b Waleed 74
Israrullah lbw b Waleed 96 Saud Shakeel c Saad b Waleed 2 Mohammad Rizwan b Waleed 13 Sohaib Maqsood lbw b M. Sami 55 Rameez Raja b Iftikhar 0 Mohammad Nawaz c Hussain b Sohail 25 Asad Afridi c Hussain b M. Sami 19 Bilal Asif c Kamran b Sohail 16 Khurram Shehzad not out 2 Sadaf Hussain c Khurram b M. Sami 11
EXTRAS (B-2, LB-1, W-3, NB-2) 8
TOTAL (all out, 49.4 overs) 321 FALL OF WKTS: 1-158, 2-166, 3-189, 4-190, 5-191, 6-250, 7-277, 8-308, 9-308. BOWLING: Sohail Tanvir 10-0-73-2 (2nb, 1w); Mohammad Sami 9.4-0-69-3 (1w); Mohammad Asghar 10-0-54-0; Waleed Ahmed 10-1-59-4 (1w); Hussain Talat 3-0-28-0; Iftikhar Ahmed 7-0-35-1.

PUNJAB:

Khurram Manzoor c Bilal b Nawaz 39
Kamran Akmal c Asad b Khurram 15
Sami Aslam lbw b Asad 81 Iftikhar Ahmed not out 109 Saad Ali not out 76 Extras (lb-4, w-3) 7 Total (for three wkts, 46.4 overs) 327 FALL OF WKTS: 1-47, 2-65, 3-181. DID NOT BAT: Ramiz Aziz, Hussain Talat, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Asghar, Waleed Ahmed.
BOWLING: Sadaf Hussain 8.4-0-67-0 (1w); Khurram Shehzad 7-1-32-1 (1w); Mohammad Nawaz 10-0-71-1; Bilal Asif 10-1-72-0; Asad Afridi 10-0-75-1 (1w); Israrullah 1-0-6-0.
RESULT: Punjab won by seven wickets.
UMPIRES: Khalid Mahmood and Mohammad Sajid Afridi. TV UMPIRE: Zameer Haider. MATCH REFEREE: Nadeem Arshad. MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Iftikhar Ahmed.
TUESDAY’S FIXTURE: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Sindh (2:00pm PST).

Published in Dawn, April 09th, 2019