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KARACHI: An unbroken century partnership between skipper Akbar Badshah and Jamaluddin carried Peshawar to a deserving six-wicket victory over Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) in the Division II final of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar on Sunday.
Peshawar stumbled to 43-4 in pursuit of a 153-run chase after SNGPL were all out for 301 in their second innings on the penultimate day of the five-day clash. But Akbar and Jamaluddin put on 110 to steer their side to a famous triumph.
Akbar finished on 54, a 105-ball knock containing eight boundaries, while Jamaluddin followed his brilliant 124 in the first innings by contributing a 99-ball 58 that included five fours. Jamaluddin was the obvious choice for the Rs50,000 Man-of-the-Match award.
Earlier, it was left-arm paceman Waqar Ahmed who ensured that Peshawar won’t be chasing a tricky target by getting rid of Yasir Shah (48 off 56 balls, seven fours) and last man Asad Ali (2) after SNGPL had resumed their overnight innings at 277-8.
Waqar ended with splendid figures of six for 92 in 27.4 overs, giving the 31-year-ld match bag of 9-172. Fellow paceman Riaz Afridi took 4-83 to finish with match analysis of eight for 138.
Akbar Badshah’s men remained undefeated throughout the competition as they won nine out of 10 games including the final.
Apart from being assured of participating, along with SNGPL, in Division I next season, Peshawar were recipients of the Rs500,000 cash prize for the champions as well as the winners’ trophy.
Zakir Khan, the PCB’s director of Domestic Cricket Operations, was the chief guest on Sunday in a ceremony also attended by Peshawar Region Cricket Association president Visal Durrani, DCA Peshawar Mohammad Fayyaz and Saqib Irfan, the PCB’s manager of umpires/match referees and domestic cricket operations.
SNGPL’s stand-in captain Umar Akmal received the runners-up trophy and cash award of Rs250,000 on behalf of his team.
Among other individual prizes, each worth Rs50,000, Lahore Ravi skipper Usman Salahuddin won the best batsman award for amassing 925 runs in the competition; Peshawar’s Mohammad Fayyaz won the best fielder prize for holding 25 catches; Karachi Whites paceman Tabish Khan was declared the best bowler after taking 61 wickets and Lahore Ravi’s Hafiz Mohammad Zohaib earned the best wicket-keeper prize for 38 dismissals (35 catches and three stumpings).
