KARACHI, Feb 4: Riffatullah and Taufiq Umar put up a magnificent opening partnership of 180 to lead Habib Bank to a crushing nine-wicket victory over PIA in the opening round match of the Patron’s Cup one-day cricket tournament on Saturday.

Riffat made 94 off 130 balls and the left-handed ex-Test opener Taufiq Umar an unbeaten 83 as the bankers overhauled PIA’s modest total of 204 with 25 balls to spare at the UBL Sports Complex.

The lethargic PIA never really threatened to reach a decent score after Hasan Raza, the Habib Bank skipper, put them into bat on a sluggish strip.

Ghulam Ali, the former Pakistan batsman, slammed seven boundaries in making 63 off 83 balls. Bazid Khan struck a 62-ball 40 with three fours and added 83 for the third-wicket with Ghulam.

Hasan returned fine figures of three for 41 with his part-time leg-spinners while Riffat ended the PIA innings with two wickets in two deliveries.

Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who has been overlooked for the ODI series against India, was economical in finishing with one for 24 in 10 overs.

Riffat and Taufiq made light work of the target by cruising along leisurely before the former fell short of the century mark, cutting leg-spinner Imran Tahir and lobbing a catch to point.

Riffat hit eight boundaries while Taufiq’s 133-ball included six fours.

For some strange reasons, there was no award for the Man-of-the-Match, which is a normal practice in such events, despite the tournament being sponsored by a private bank. If there was an individual prize, the obvious candidate should have been Riffat.

Scoreboard

PIA:

Agha Sabir c Aftab b Kamran 17

Yasir Hameed c Taufiq b Junaid 23

Ghulam Ali c Junaid b A. Rahman 63

Bazid Khan c and b Hasan 40

Mahmood Hamid run out 23

Janisar Khan not out 17

Tahir Khan c Kaneria b Hasan 5

Ahmed Zeeshan st Humayun b Kaneria 4

Najaf Shah lbw b Hasan 0

Fazle Akbar st Humayun b Riffat 3

Imran Tahir c Aftab b Riffat 0

EXTRAS (LB-6, W-2, NB-1) 9

TOTAL (all out, 49.2 overs) 204

FALL OF WKTS: 1-34, 2-63, 3-146, 4-156, 5-185, 6-191, 7-197, 8-198, 9-204.

BOWLING: Fahad Masood 6-0-32-0 (1nb, 1w); Kamran Hussain 5-1-18-1; Danish Kaneria 10-0-24-1; Junaid Zia 5-0-35-1; Abdul Rahman 10-0-34-1; Hasan Raza 10-0-41-3 (1w); Taufiq Umar 3-0-14-0; Riffatullah 0.2-0-0-2.

HABIB BANK:

Riffatullah c Tahir b Imran 94

Taufiq Umar not out 83

Aftab Khan not out 17

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-8, NB-3) 13

TOTAL (for one wkt, 45.5 overs) 207

FALL OF WKT: 1-180.

DID NOT BAT: Hasan Raza, Farhan Adil, Kamran Hussain, Humayun Farhat, Abdul Rahman, Junaid Zia, Danish Kaneria, Fahad Masood.

BOWLING: Fazle Akbar 6-2-29-0; Najaf Shah 7-0-29-0 (2nb, 2w); Tahir Khan 10-0-42-0 (1nb, 1w); Imran Tahir 10-0-35-1; Mahmood Hamid 7-0-34-0; Bazid Khan 4-0-25-0; Janisar Khan 1.5-0-11-0.

RESULT: Habib Bank won by nine wickets.

UMPIRES: Riazuddin and Shakeel Khan.

MATCH REFEREE: Anwer Khan.