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KARACHI, March 8: Former Test captain Wasim Akram took first steps in a bid to regain his place in the national side by grabbing three wickets as PIA trounced Bahawalpur by 10 wickets in the National One-day Cricket Championship Friday.
The ace left-arm fast bowler, looking in fine shape after being asked to prove his fitness, was immediately in his groove by disposing off Hammad Tariq, caught in the slips off the first legitimate delivery of the Pool ‘A’ fixture at Asghar Ali Shah Stadium.
After being sent in by PIA skipper Moin Khan, Bahawalpur were bundled out for a meagre 91 in 34.2 overs. Only captain Bilal Khilji (29 off 53 balls) and Mohammad Rashid (22 off 72 balls) exceeded the 20-run mark.
Wasim later claimed two more wickets in his second spell to finish with three for 29 in 8.2 overs. However, the pick of the bowlers was another Pakistan reject Azhar Mahmood. The all-rounder cut and swung the ball prodigiously to return remarkable analysis of three for eight in seven overs.
Saqlain Mushtaq, who was excluded from the Asian Test playing XI, also enhanced his claims by picking up two for 19 — the second victim being splendidly stumped by Moin.
Opener Ghulam Ali then made light work of the target by smashing 58 off 67 balls. His knock was laced with four sixes and three fours.
Shoaib Mohammad, the 40-year-old ex-Test stalwart, however, struggled to contribute 25 off 67 balls. Had he showed more urgency, PIA would have been home much earlier than the 21.3 overs they ultimately had to face.
BAHAWALPUR:
Hammad Tariq c Azhar b Wasim 0
Asif Iqbal c Moin b Fazle 0
Bilal Khilji b Azhar 29
Mohammad Rashid c Moin b Saqlain 22
Hasnain Raza lbw b Azhar 2
Faisal Elahi c Yasir b Azhar 3
Inam-ul-Haq c Yasir b Nadeem 0
Amjad Jam b Wasim 14
Maqbool Hussain b Wasim 2
Imranullah st Moin b Saqlain 3
Tahir Maqsood not out 2
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-10, NB-2) 14
TOTAL (all out, 34.2 overs) 91
FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-2, 3-41, 4-47, 5-51, 6-54, 7-66, 8-71, 9-74.
BOWLING: Wasim Akram 8.2-1-29-3; Fazle Akbar 7-0-17-1; Azhar Mahmood 7-2-8-3; Nadeem Khan 6-1-14-1; Saqlain Mushtaq 4-1-19-2; Asif Mujtaba 2-1-2-0.
PIA:
Ghulam Ali not out 58
Shoaib Mohammad not out 25
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-2, NB-5) 9
TOTAL (for no wkt, 21.3 overs) 92
DID NOT BAT: Yasir Hameed, Asif Mujtaba, Sohail Jaffar, Azhar Mahmood, Moin Khan, Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, Nadeem Khan, Fazle Akbar.
BOWLING: Tahir Maqsood 5-0-16-0; Bilal Khilji 2-0-15-0; Faisal Elahi 3-0-19-0; Maqbool Hussain 6-1-11-0; Imranullah 2-0-15-0; Amjad Jam 3.3-0-14-0.
RESULT: PIA won by 10 wickets.
UMPIRES: Sadiq Mohammad and Masroor Ali.
MATCH REFEREE: Taslim Arif.
Results of other Pool ‘A’ matches:
*Karachi Whites beat Lahore Whites by 74 runs at National Stadium
KARACHI WHITES 265-7 in 50 overs (Mohammad Masroor 77, Fahadullah 65 not out, Saif Ashraf 42; Imran Ali 4-50);
LAHORE WHITES 191-9 in 50 overs (Tariq Rasheed 49, Khaqan Arsal 34, Salman Butt 29, Khurram Chouhan 26 not out, Imran Butt 23; Tahir Khan 4-50, Mohammad Hasnain 3-19).
*Pakistan Customs beat Rest of Sindh by seven wickets at UBL Sports Complex.
REST OF SINDH 199-9 in 50 overs (Shahid Qambrani 82 not out, Akhtar Bangash 49, Rizwan Qureshi 20; Tabish Nawab 3-30, Kashif Siddique 2-29);
PAKISTAN CUSTOMS 203-3 in 44.2 overs (Shadab Kabir 83 not out, Azhar Shafiq 55, Asim Kamal 31 not out; Abdul Rahim 2-43).
