KARACHI, Dec 17: The Punjab Stallions have more or less qualified for the final of the RBS Pentangular Cup one-day tournament after coasting to another impressive victory over Balochistan Bears at the National Stadium here on Wednesday.

For the second straight day, the Bears failed to defend a competitive total as the Stallions, riding on excellent centuries from Pakistan stars Salman Butt and Shoaib Malik, effortlessly galloped to a six wicket success, which was their third in as many matches.

And for the second day running, the Bears were not only forced to bat first after Misbah-ul-Haq lost the toss again, but also match referee Anwer Khan opted to adjudicate joint winners of the Man-of-the-Match award for the second game in a row.

If Tuesday’s game was lit up by dazzling hundreds from Umar Amin and Afaq Raheem, the talented pair who guided Federal Areas Panthers to a seven-wicket win, the Stallions were not going to left behind either as they chased down a target of 285 set by the Bears.

Salman, who, for a change came to bat at No 3, laid the foundation with his customary cuts and pulls. Undeterred by the demise of his top-order partners — Azhar Ali, Nasir Jamshed and Umar Akmal all failing to reach double figures — the 24-year-old left-hander looked in ominous touch from the go as he scored 50 of the first 65 runs made by the Stallions.

Salman and Malik repaired the early damage with consummate ease and together they gradually upped the tempo on a pitch that offered marginal help to the spinners. The fourth-wicket partnership — worth 130 in 132 balls — firmly tilted the balance towards the Stallions.

And although Danish Kaneria bowled with more control in this game, the Bears skipper Misbah-ul-Haq ran out of options as the rate of scoring picked up as none of his bowlers managed to wrest the initiative.

Kaneria had something to celebrate, after remaining wicketless on his 28th birthday against the Leopards, when he induced Salman (109 off 107 balls, 10 boundaries) to slog one in the air towards deep midwicket where Mohammad Hafeez made no mistake.

Kamran Akmal, who was scheduled to head back to Lahore late on Wednesday for family reasons and replaced by his fellow wicket-keeping brother Adnan, put on the icing on the cake by striking the winning boundary in the 49th over as scored 48 off 29 balls in the 60-ball unbroken stand of 87 with Malik.

That cameo from Kamran featured three fours and a six each off Hafeez, Kaneria and Abdur Rauf. Malik continued his remarkable form in the tournament by striking 10 boundaries in a 94-ball 108. The Stallions captain heads the batting chart with 236 runs at 118.00.

Earlier in the day, Malik once again was very tidy at the bowling crease as he kept the batsmen quite, conceding just 37 runs in 10 overs while dismissing the left-handed duo of Shoaib Khan Jr (36) and Saeed Anwar Jr (25).

The major knocks in the Bears’ total of 284-4 were played the experienced trio of Hafeez (46 off 53 balls, five fours), Misbah (49 off 47 balls, four fours and one six) and Saeed bin Nasir, who was left stranded on 97 at the end.

Saeed, who added 113 in 94 balls with Misbah, embellished his workmanlike knock with 11 fours and one six. But despite his gallant efforts, the spotlight fell on Wahab Riaz, the Stallions’ left-arm paceman who was prevented from completing the final of the innings after bowling a high full toss for the second time in the match. Wahab endured a miserable day in the field, giving away 62 runs in 6.4 overs and seldom looked in the best of health.

Malik, the Man-of-the-Match in his team’s earlier victories, had to share the award with Salman this time.

Scoreboard

BALOCHISTAN BEARS:

Mohammad Hafeez run out 46

Shoaib Khan Jr c Mansoor b Malik 36

Saeed Anwar Jr c Umar b Malik 25

Saeed bin Nasir not out 97

Misbah-ul-Haq c Umar b Wahab 49

Kamran Hussain not out 10

EXTRAS (LB-11, W-6, NB-4) 21

TOTAL (for four wkts, 50 overs) 284

FALL OF WKTS: 1-75, 2-97, 3-141, 4-254.

DID NOT BAT: Fahad Iqbal, Gulraiz Sadaf, Abdur Rauf, Yasir Ali, Danish Kaneria.

BOWLING: Sarfraz Ahmed 10-0-38-0; Mohammad Talha 10-0-63-0 (1nb, 3w); Wahab Riaz 6.4-0-62-1 (2nb); Shoaib Malik 10-1-37-2 (2w); Abdur Rehman 10-0-44-0 (1w); Mansoor Amjad 3.2-0-29-0 (1nb).

PUNJAB STALLIONS:

Azhar Ali c Gulraiz b Rauf 9

Nasir Jamshed c Yasir b Kamran 3

Salman Butt c Hafeez b Kaneria 109

Umar Akmal c Saeed Anwar Jr b Yasir 7

Shoaib Malik not out 108

Kamran Akmal not out 48

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-1) 3

TOTAL (for four wkts, 48.3 overs) 287

FALL OF WKTS: 1-12, 2-24, 3-70, 4-200.

DID NOT BAT: Mansoor Amjad, Abdur Rehman, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Talha.

BOWLING: Abdur Rauf 10-0-58-1; Kamran Hussain 9.3-0-49-1; Yasir Ali 5-0-37-1; Mohammad Hafeez 8-0-50-0 (1w); Danish Kaneria 10-0-53-1; Saeed Anwar Jr 6-0-38-0.

RESULT: Punjab Stallions won by six wickets.

UMPIRES: Iqbal Butt and Zameer Haider.

TV UMPIRE: Riazuddin.

MATCH REFEREE: Anwer Khan.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Shoaib Malik and Salman Butt (shared).

THURSDAY’S FIXTURE: Sindh Dolphins v NWFP Panthers.