KARACHI, March 31: A brilliant all-round performance by Shahid Afridi inspired Habib Bank to a three-wicket victory in the opening Super Eight fixture of the ABN-Amro National One-day Cricket Championship at the National Stadium here on Monday.

The Pakistan all-rounder picked up five for 49 before striking a quickfire 45 to help the bankers defeat Lahore Eagles in the Group ‘B’ tie.

The Eagles, who were put into by Habib Bank skipper Younis Khan, made 219 for nine in their 50 overs. The bankers overcame a stuttering start before solid contributions from Younis, Aftab Khan and Afridi carried them home in the 43rd over.

The early part of the Eagles’ innings was dominated by teenaged opener Ahmed Shahzad, who struck 11 boundaries in scoring 56 off 66 deliveries.

The youngster, who excelled for Pakistan at the recent Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, was particularly severe on Sajid shah, who conceded 23 runs in his two overs.

But once Afridi came into the attack, the scoring rate dropped. Ashraf Ali did his best to anchor the innings on his way to 58 off 96 balls, but wickets fell at regular intervals.

Afridi bamboozled Eagles skipper Junaid Zia with a googly as the former Pakistan player went for a drive. At 157 for seven, it appeared the Eagles may not even reach 200, but a defiant stand of 52 between Ashraf, who hit three boundaries, and Sohail Ahmed (25 off 33 balls) gave the Eagles something to bowl at.

Apart from Afridi, slow left-armer Aslam Qureshi also excelled by taking two for 18 in nine overs after conceding just nine runs in his first six overs.

Junaid bowled a fine spell at the start of the Habib Bank’s innings, removing makeshift opener Sajid Shah (7) and the promoted Farhan Iqbal for a nine-ball duck. Riffatullah Mohmand carved five boundaries in a 32-ball knock of 31 before he was bowled by slow left-armer Sohail in the 10th over.

Younis and Aftab put paid to any hopes of an upset win for the regional side by putting on 81 for the fourth wicket.

Younis fell one short of his first half-century in the tournament. His 70-ball 49 contained just a solitary boundary. Aftab laced his 40 off 62 balls with three hits to the fence.

Afridi then took over. He slammed a brace of sixes and one four before Junaid ended his 29-ball cameo by having him caught by Arsalan Mir.

Kamran Hussain, who was involved in a 53-run partnership with Afridi, scored 27 off 25 balls before Fahad Masood hit the winning boundary.

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