KARACHI, March 2: Despite a magnificent 163 from Karachi Zebras’ opener Khurram Manzoor, Sialkot Stallions chalked up their third straight win in the ABN-Amro One-day Gold League Cup in a high-scoring thriller at the National Stadium on Friday.

Chasing a challenging 318, the Zebras, led by Khurram, made a gallant attempt but remained 17 short of pulling of an incredible victory when their innings ended at 301 for nine in 50 overs.

Khurram batted right through the innings to strike 16 fours and a brace of sixes during his brilliant 158-ball knock. Afsar Nawaz hit 41 off 50 balls with five boundaries while adding 86 for the sixth-wicket with Khurram.

After losing the toss, the Stallions piled up 316 for eight in their 50 overs. Shahzad Malik led the runfest with 105 off 111 deliveries while striking 13 fours and one six. Shahid Yousuf made a 71-ball 68 with three fours six and put on 169 for the fourth-wicket with Shahzad.

Despite the onslaught, Zebras’ slow left-armer Azam Hussain returned excellent figures of four for 54 in 10 overs.

Scoreboard

SIALKOT STALLIONS:

Qaiser Abbas c Tahir b Imran 7

Atiq-ur-Rehman b Ramesh 27

Bilal Hussain b Tahir 47

Shahzad Malik c sub b Azam 105

Shahid Yousuf c Amin b Azam 68

Hafiz Khalid b Azam 9

Tahir Mughal c Khurram b Azam 4

Mansoor Amjad not out 4

Abdur Rehman un out 10

Sarfraz Ahmed not out 4

EXTRAS (LB-17, W-15) 32

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 50 overs) 317

FALL OF WKTS: 1-31, 2-65, 3-114, 4-283, 5-283, 6-299, 7-300, 8-313.

DID NOT BAT: Kashif Dawood.

BOWLING: Rajesh Ramesh 10-0-58-1 (2w); Imran Javed 10-0-64-1 (6w); Tahir Khan 10-0-56-1 (1w); Azam Hussain 10-0-54-4 (1w); Asif Zakir 4-0-21-0 (2w); Afsar Nawaz 6-0-47-0 (2w).

KARACHI ZEBRAS:

Asif Zakir c Bilal b Tahir 30

Khurram Manzoor not out 163

Amin-ur-Rehman c Khalid b Sarfraz 0

Saeed bin Nasir b Sarfraz 0

Faisal Iqbal c Khalid b Tahir 13

Hasan Raza run out 6

Afsar Nawaz b Qaiser 41

Imran Javed c Atiq b Qaiser 3

Azam Hussain c Rehman b Sarfraz 17

Tahir Khan run out 6

Rajesh Ramesh not out 2

EXTRAS (B-3, LB-1, W-13, NB-3) 20

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 50 overs) 301

FALL OF WKTS: 1- 2-70, 3-70, 4-114, 5-121, 6-207, 7-217, 8-256, 9-267.

BOWLING: Sarfraz Ahmed 10-1-61-3 (3w); Kashif Dawood 9-0-67-0 (3nb, 1w); Tahir Mughal 10-0-49-2 (3w); Abdur Rehman 9-0-43-0; Mansoor Amjad 9-0-61-0 (1w); Qaiser Abbas 3-0-16-2.

RESULT: Sialkot Stallions won by 16 runs.

UMPIRES: Siddique Khan and M. Akbar Khan.

MATCH REFEREE: Naeem Ahmed.

OFFICIAL SCORER: Syed Imran Ali.