RAWALPINDI: Pacer Mohammad Shahzad’s devastating hat-trick helped Pakistan Television (PTV) dismiss State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for 205 on the first day of the five-day President’s Trophy Grade-I final here at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

The match, being played under lights with a pink ball due to Ramzan, saw PTV take control after Shahzad’s impressive spell. At stumps, PTV were 49-3 in 19 overs, with Niaz Khan claiming two wickets for 18 runs.

Earlier, PTV captain Amad Butt elected to field, and SBP’s opening batsmen Imran Butt and Rameez Aziz provided a solid 87-run partnership.

Imran top-scored with 89 off 136 balls, including 14 fours, while Rameez contributed 40 off 51 balls with five fours.

The partnership was broken when skipper Amad dismissed Rameez and Ali Usman (2-10) removed Imran.

Once the openers departed, Shahzad took center stage, dismissing SBP captain Umar Amin for six and Fawad Alam for nought.

In a bizarre incident, Saud Shakeel, Pakistan’s Test batter, was timed out for not being ready to take guard within the required time, becoming the seventh batter in first-class cricket to suffer this unusual dismissal.

Mohammad Irfan was then dismissed by Shahzad, completing his hat-trick. Shahzad finished with impressive figures of 5-29 in 10.2 overs.

After Shahzad’s heroics, wicket-keeper batter Mohammad Ghazi Ghouri and Niaz stitched together a 36-run partnership before Mehran Sanwal dismissed Ghazi for 14. Shahzad then removed Niaz for 22 and Ali Usman took the wicket of tail-ender Kashif Bhatti.

Shahzad returned to cap off the SBP innings, cleaning up Mohammad Ismail for four to complete his five-wicket haul.

Scores in brief:

STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN 205 all out, 54.2 overs (Imran Butt 89, Rameez Aziz 40; Muhammad Shahzad 5-29, Ali Usman 2-10); PAKISTAN TELEVISION 49-3, 19 overs (Niaz Khan 2-18).

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2025