KARACHI, July 12: Hafiz Asad Baig turned in another superlative performance in the PCB Ramazan T20 Cup as he starred in Habib Bank Limited’s (HBL) clinical six-wicket win that ended State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) qualification hopes for the next phase here at the National Stadium late on Thursday night.

The 25-year-old, who is donning HBL colours as a guest player, first produced an excellent stint with his occasional off-spinners as the SBP struggled to muster just 106-7 in another shoddy display with the willow after Kashif Siddique won the toss and had little hesitation in batting first.

Asad then was the joint top-scorer, along with fellow guest player Behram Khan, with a breezy 27 off 21 deliveries (four fours and one six) to clinch the Man-of-the-Match prize fir the second time in the tournament.

The absence of Younis Khan, who was reportedly indisposed, didn’t cause much anxiety in the HBL dugout as the modest target was duly achieved with two overs to spare and keep their hopes alive for at least another night.

Ex-Test wicket-keeper Humayun Farhat (20 off only eight balls) finished the match in great style by hoisting slow left-armer Hasan Mahmood for successive sixes over midwicket boundary.

As it transpired, the result sent Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) straight into the semi-final from Group ‘A’ with five points. The HBL, currently placed in the standings on net run-rate, would be keeping an anxious eye on the last pool fixture on Friday to learn their actual fate.

The Group ‘A’ action was scheduled to wind up late on Friday night with United Bank Limited (UBL) and Wapda playing. If the UBL win, they would top the group with six points and if Wapda, who are already eliminated, triumph then HBL would qualify straightaway.

The SBP innings got off to a dramatic start when Kashif was nearly held at point but the ball sped off to the point fence. The first ball of the subsequent three overs saw a wicket fall with the impressive Ehsan Adil taking two of them to leave the SBP innings in tatters at 3-7.

And despite the best efforts of Rameez Raja (26 off 28 balls), Usman Saeed (25 off 33) and all-rounder Rizwan Haider (27 not out from 21 deliveries), the chase for HBL was always going to be inadequate.

Umpire Saqib Khan surprised everyone but Imran Farhat most when he adjudged the stand-in HBL skipper LBW to a delivery that pitched outside the left-hander’s leg stump.

But Asad showed great maturity to inspire his team to victory that was completed by Hasan Raza (26 off 378 balls) and the portly figure of Humayun. Not even Mohammad Ali’s magnificent spell of seam bowling (3-17) could save the SBP from a defeat that was always on the cards.

From Saturday, the Group ‘B’ games begin with National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) facing the Port Qasim Authority (PQA) at 10:30pm.

Scoreboard

STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN:Kashif Siddique lbw b Ehsan 5Rameez Raja c Kamran b Asad 26Farrukh Shehzad c Hasan b Fahad 1Adnan Raees c Asad b Ehsan 1Usman Saeed c Hasan b Imran 25Mohammad Afzal c Imran b Asad 9Rizwan Haider not out 27Mohammad Waheed b Sarmad 4Hasan Mahmood not out 6 EXTRAS (LB-2) 2TOTAL (for seven wkts, 20 overs) 106FALL OF WKTS: 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, 4-44, 5-68, 6-68, 7-79.DID NOT BAT: Naved Saeed, Mohammad Ali.BOWLING: Fahad Masood 4-0-35-1; Ehsan Adil 4-0-13-2; Sarmad Anwar 4-0-26-1; Hafiz Asad Baig 4-0-10-2; Imran Farhat 4-0-20-1.HABIB BANK LIMITED:Imran Farhat lbw b Ali 5Hafiz Asad Baig c Afzal b Ali 27Fahad Masood b Ali 0Behram Khan c Farrukh b Hasan 27Hasan Raza not out 26Humayun Farhat not out 20EXTRAS (LB-1, W-5) 6TOTAL (for four wkts, 18 overs) 111FALL OF WKTS: 1-5, 2-5, 3-38, 4-86.DID NOT BAT: Farhan Iqbal, Kamran Hussain, Ehsan Adil, Irfan Fazil, Sarmad Anwar.BOWLING: Kashif Siddique 2-0-13-0; Mohammad Ali 4-1-17-3; Hasan Mahmood 4-0-39-1; Naved Saeed 4-0-21-0; Rizwan Haider 3-1-11-0 (1w); Mohammad Waheed 1-0-9-0.RESULT: Habib Bank Limited won by six wickets.UMPIRES: Ghaffar Kazmi and Saqib Khan.TV UMPIRE: Nadeem Iqbal. MATCH REFEREE: Mohammad Javed.MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Hafiz Asad Baig.SATURDAY’S FIXTURE: NBP v PQA (10:30pm).