KARACHI, Jan 25 A career-best bowling feat by Aslam Qureshi put Habib Bank in driving seat against Karachi Blues on the first day of the last-round RBS Pentangular Cup match at the National Stadium here on Monday.

Aslam, the 31-year-old slow left-armer, destroyed Karachi Blues batting line-up for 187 in their first innings after Habib Bank skipper Hasan Raza elected to field first upon winning the toss. Aslam finished with splendid figures of seven for 37 in 19.4 overs to better his previous best analysis of 6-49.

Shaharyar Ghani (41, five fours) and tailender Tanvir Ahmed (39, seven boundaries) were the only batsmen to cross the 30-run mark as Aslam sliced through the middle and lower batting.

Habib Bank weathered a fiery opening burst from Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Sami, who arrived last week to lead Karachi Blues after playing in the Sydney Test against Australia.

Sami dismissed Imran Nazir Jr and Rehan Rafiq off successive deliveries to leave the bankers tottering at 6-2. But Shan Masood (29) and Khaqan Arsal, who struck 10 boundaries in a 66-ball 57, carried the score to 95 without further loss.

A victory in this game will ensure Habib Bank qualifying for the Jan 31-Feb 4 final here.

Scoreboard

KARACHI BLUES (1st Innings)

Shahzeb Hasan c Farhan b Irfan 21
Waqas Ausaf run out 0
Asad Shafiq lbw b Fahad 6
Daniyal Ahsan b Aslam 24
Shaharyar Ghani st Farhan b Aslam 41
Mirza Adnan Baig lbw b Aslam 21
Javed Mansoor c Humayun b Aslam 6
Tanvir Ahmed lbw b Aslam 39
Mohammad Sami st Farhan b Aslam 6
Faraz Ahmed Khan lbw b Aslam 5
Zohaib Shera not out 0

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-9, NB-5) 18
TOTAL (all out, 58.4 overs) 187

FALL OF WKTS 1-12, 2-28, 3-46, 4-64, 5-98, 6-136, 7-139, 8-157, 9-185.

BOWLING Fahad Masood 13-4-40-1; Sarmad Anwar 10-4-34-0; Irfan Fazil 10-1-47-1 (5nb); Aslam Qureshi 19.4-7-37-7; Imran Nazir Jr 6-0-16-0.

HABIB BANK

(1st Innings)

Shan Masood not out 29
Imran Nazir Jr c Asad b Sami 1
Rehan Rafiq b Sami 0
Khaqan Arsal not out 57

EXTRAS (B-1, NB-7) 8
TOTAL (for two wkts, 26 overs) 95

FALL OF WKTS 1-5, 2-6.

TO BAT Hasan Raza, Humayun Farhat, Farhan Iqbal, Aslam Qureshi, Fahad Masood, Irfan Fazil, Sarmad Anwar.

BOWLING (to-date) Mohammad Sami 8-1-19-2 (1nb); Tanvir Ahmed 9-1-29-0 (6nb); Zohaib Shera 3-0-28-0; Faraz Ahmed Khan 6-2-18-0.

UMPIRES Zameer Haider and Kaukab Butt.
MATCH REFEREE Khateeb Rizwan.