QEA 2011-12

KARACHI: Wapda, who were leaders in early phase of the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship Division I, reclaimed top spot with a clinical 10-wicket rout of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on the third day of their ninth-round fixture at the Marghazar Cricket Ground in Islamabad on Friday.

The SBP, second in the standings at the end of the previous round, faced a deficit of 160 on the first innings and were dismissed for the same total in their second innings with slow left-armer Zulfiqar Babar returning remarkable figures of four wickets for five runs in three overs.

Wapda then sent in tail-ender M. Imran Khan to open in pursuit of the one run they needed. Imran duly spanked the first ball he faced from Rameez Alam to the boundary. Wapda now have 51 points with two rounds left in Division I before the Dec 20-24 final.

Meanwhile, PIA were on verge of joining Wapda on the leaderboard after taking a big 212-run lead against deposed leaders Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. PIA added 140 to their Thursday’s tally of 250-2 with Kamran Sajid scoring 136 and Faisal Iqbal making 125 after resuming at his overnight score of 95.

The ZTBL, who made just 178 in the first innings, then went to stumps at 116-3 while still requiring 96 to avert an innings defeat.

A spectacular Karachi Blues batting collapse handed Abbottabad an unlikely 188-run victory here at the National Stadium, while improving their chances of retaining their Division I team status.

Abbottabad captain Khalid Usman took four wickets in as many deliveries on his way to 5-36 in 13 overs as the home side managed only 96 after starting their second innings for a 285-run chase. Slow left-armer Khalid’s victims were Shahzaib Hasan (bowled for 39), Khalid Latif (LBW), Mohammad Wajihuddin (LBW) and first-class debutant Sohaib Shakeel (bowled) in the sixth over of the bowler.

The abject display by Karachi Blues containing five internationals was simply appalling and hard to understand. It also clearly illustrated the rotten state of the sport in the country’s biggest cricketing nursery.

Ikramullah Khan, the 19-year-old left-arm paceman who captured 8-51 on Thursday, took 4-42 to finish with match figures of 12-93.

Also winning in three days were Rawalpindi who defeated Faisalabad by 92 runs at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha.

National Bank reached 181-3 after Habib Bank earned a first-innings lead of 62 at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

Islamabad, battling to avoid relegation, came back strongly against Sialkot at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. Chasing 310, the hosts were well placed at 180-2 at stumps.

Close of play scores and results on Friday (day three of four):

At National Stadium, Karachi: Abbottabad beat Karachi Blues by 188 runs.

ABBOTTABAD 216 in 78.4 overs (Mohammad Naeem Sr 65, Wajid Ali 41, Khalid Bilal 30 not out; Mohammad Sami 5-60, Sohail Khan 3-52) and 210 in 50.5 overs (Mohammad Naeem Sr 64, Rameez Ahmed 47, Wajid Ali 43; Sohail Khan 5-82, Tanvir Ahmed 3-56); KARACHI BLUES 142 in 47.1 overs (Mohammad Wajihuddin 35, Mohammad Sami 32; Ikramullah Khan 8-51, Wajid Ali 2-2) and 96 in 28.3 overs (Shahzaib Hasan 39; Khalid Usman 5-36, Ikramullah Khan 4-42).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: NATIONAL BANK 243 in 75.4 overs (Kamran Akmal 66, Fawad Alam 45, Qaiser Abbas 45, Hammad Azam 32; Fahad Masood 5-40, Aslam Qureshi 4-60) and 181-3 in 53.4 overs Nasir Jamshed 70, Khurram Manzoor 32, Aqeel Anjum 30 not out); HABIB BANK 305 in 98 overs (Bilal Shafayat 88, Aftab Khan 55, Taufiq Umar 52, Salman Qadir 33, Shan Masood 31; Raza Hasan 4-78, Wahab Riaz 4-104, Qaiser Abbas 2-30).

At Sports Stadium, Sargodha: Rawalpindi beat Faisalabad by 92 runs.

RAWALPINDI 179 in 45.2 overs (Usman Saeed 46; Abdur Rauf 5-61, Naseer Akram 3-65) and 198 in 51.5 overs (Haseeb Azam 66; Abdur Rauf 5-73, Aqeel Ahmed 2-26, Waqas Maqsood 2-40); FAISALABAD 104 in 38.4 overs (Abdur Rauf 38; Nasir Malik 5-30, Mohammad Rameez 2-11, Haseeb Azam 2-19) and 181 in 56.5 overs (Asif Ali 50, Asif Hussain 34; Rashid Latif 5-46, Mohammad Rameez 3-38, Haseeb Azam 2-33).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: ZTBL 178 in 62 overs (Junaid Zia 65, Zulqarnain Haider 43, Imran Nazir 36; Zia-ul-Haq 3-31, Anwar Ali 3-35, Akhtar Waheed 2-69) and 116-3 in 30 overs (Shahid Yousuf 38); PIA 390 in 123 overs (Kamran Sajid 136, Faisal Iqbal 125, Shoaib Khan 39, Shaharyar Ghani 31; Rao Iftikhar 3-52, Junaid Zia 3-75, Shahid Yousuf 2-48).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: SIALKOT 255 in 62.1 overs (M. Ayub Dogar 92, Kamran Younis 32, Hafiz Majid Jahangir 32, Mansoor Amjad 31; Shahzad Azam 4-73, Fakhar Hussain 3-68, Zohaib Ahmed 3-72) and 194 in 49 overs (Hafiz Majid Jahangir 51, Mohammad Yasin 40, Hafiz Majid Jahangir 37; Zohaib Ahmed 5-82, Fakhar Hussain 3-65); ISLAMABAD 140 in 42 overs (Afaq Raheem 54, Zeeshan Mushtaq 50; Mohammad Abbas 7-58, Mohammad Imran 3-34) and 180-2 in 49 overs (Afaq Raheem 69 not out, Umair Khan 48).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: Wapda beat State Bank by 10 wickets.

SBP 94 in 35.2 overs (M. Imran Khan 5-26, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan 3-30) and 160 in 57 overs (Adnan Raees 61, Gulraiz Sadaf 40; Zulfiqar Babar 4-5, Bilal Khilji 2-25, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan 2-58); WAPDA 254 in 87.3 overs (Aamir Sajjad 75, Asif Khan 57, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan 56; Saad Altaf 4-82, Mohammad Naved 2-35, Rizwan Haider 2-73) and 4-0 in 0.1 over.