KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) dictated terms for the second straight day in the Patron’s Trophy Grade-II cricket tournament final when secured a substantial lead against the Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Rawalpindi on Friday.

The HEC reached 283-8 in the restricted first-innings quota of 83 overs in response to State Bank’s 392-6 at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. Starting their second turn at the crease with an advantage of 109, State Bank extended their overall lead to 143 by reaching 34-1 at draw of stumps.

The solitary casualty being Pakistan T20 opener Sahibzada Farhan who was caught by substitute Saif-ur-Rehman off slow left-armer Kamran Afzal for 20, while leaving Umar Waheed — who came in as the opener — batting on 13 and Israrullah (0).

Earlier, the HEC added 257 to their overnight score of 26 without loss. Upfront the students suffered a major setback when the in-form Fahad Usman got out to experienced seamer Hamza Nadeem without adding to his Thursday’s tally of 12.

But Fahad’s opening partner Hammad Butt, who resumed on 14, went onto make a bright 44 from 58 deliveries while striking seven boundaries until he provided Israrullah with his second catch of the morning.

Mohammad Faiq was HEC’s major contributor with the bat on Friday. The talented right-hander batted with supreme confidence to strike eight fours and one six in a sublime knock of 82 from 141 balls in a stay of 221 minutes. His innings was terminated by upcoming paceman Mohammad Ilyas with wicket-keeper Rohail Nazir taking the catch.

Faiq was one of three wickets the HEC lost in the space of 17 runs. Arsalan Zia was run out for 21 after putting 55 for the third wicket with Faiq. Skipper Asfand Mehran then fell to left-arm paceman Taj Wali for one, while Sajid Khan (4) was adjudged leg-before-wicket to the guiles of spinning all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz.

Hamza Akbar held the rest of the innings together to finish unbeaten with 56 in a patient 139-ball stay that included six hits to the fence. Hamza was engaged into crucial partnerships. Initially he helped Faiq add 46 for the sixth wicket before being partnered by a 69-run stand for the next wicket with Kamran.

Kamran batted enterprisingly to score 40 off 66 balls with the aid of four boundaries and a six. He was one of two wickets for the occasional left-arm spin of Israrullah, who along with Ilyas picked up a brace each.

Scoreboard

STATE BANK (1st Innings) 392-6 in 83 overs (Naved Yasin 118 not out, Saad Ali 105, Sahibzada Farhan 90, Rohail Nazir 36; Mamoon Riaz 2-81).

HEC (1st Innings, overnight 26-0):

Fahad Usman c Israrullah b Hamza 12
Hammad Butt c Israrullah b Ilyas 44
Mohammad Faiq c Rohail b Ilyas 82
Arsalan Zia run out 21
Asfand Mehran c Farhan b Taj 1
Sajid Khan lbw b Nawaz 4
Hamza Akbar not out 56
Kamran Afzal st Rohail b Israrullah 40
Mamoon Riaz b Israrullah 7
Sharoon Siraj not out 5

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-1, NB-5) 11

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 83 overs) 283

DID NOT BAT: Bilal Anwar.

BOWLING: Mohammad Ilyas 16-1-74-2 (1w); Taj Wali 17-5-52-1 (1nb); Mohammad Nawaz 21-4-54-1; Hamza Nadeem 8-1-32-1; Basit Ali 9-0-40-0 (4nb); Israrullah 12-0-26-2.

STATE BANK (2nd Innings):

Umar Waheed not out 13
Sahibzada Farhan c sub b Kamran 20
Israrullah not out 0

EXTRAS (W-1) 1

TOTAL (for one wkt, 10 overs) 34

FALL OF WKT: 1-26.

BOWLING (to-date): Mamoon Riaz 5-0-16-0 (1w); Fahad Usman 2-0-10-0; Kamran Afzal 3-1-8-1.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2019