KARACHI: Paceman Babar Rehman devastated holders Karachi Blues with an 11-wicket haul to put Karachi Whites on brink of victory in their opening Super Eight fixture of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship at the NBP Sports Complex here on Monday.
Following his 5-61 on Saturday, the 29-year-old Babar grabbed a career-best six for 51 — match analysis of 11-102 — to send Karachi Blues reeling to 177 all out in their second innings on the penultimate day of the Group ‘A’ tie.
Beginning their chase for 143, the Whites raced to 67-0 in 14 overs before stumps. Israrullah slammed century in each innings before Peshawar set Islamabad a daunting target of 377 in the other Group ‘A’ game at the National Cricket Ground in the federal capital.
The 23-year-old left-handed opener followed his 148 on day one by scoring an undefeated 138 (200 balls, 18 boundaries) as Peshawar declared their second innings at 312-5. Mohammad Idrees, who had shared a 100-plus partnership with Israrullah in the first innings, repeated the dose in the second innings as well as the duo added 130 for the third wicket with Idrees making 74 (87 balls, 11 fours and one six).
Islamabad reached 34-0 in seven overs as they prepared for a tough final day on Tuesday.
Multan staged a magnificent fightback through an unbroken stand of 162 to post 337-6 in response to Sialkot’s 392 in their Group ‘B’ fixture at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan.
Resuming at 74-3, the hosts lost three further wickets before Abdul Rehman Muzammil and Aamir Yamin came to their rescue. Rehman was batting with a career-best 130 (272 balls, 18 fours) while Aamir had made 87 (128 balls, 17 boundaries).
Rawalpindi conceded a first-innings lead of 49 runs before reducing hosts Lahore Shalimar to 136-7 in the other Group ‘B’ match at the LCCA Ground in Lahore. Opener Arsalan Arshad was carrying the home team’s hopes with an unbeaten 65.
The visitors lost the last five wickets for just eight runs after starting at their overnight tally of 201-5. Slow left-armer Mohammad Irfan triggered the collapse to finish with five for 34 in 18.4 overs.
But the pace trio of Nasir Malik (3-48), Haseeb Azam (2-38) and Akhtar Ayub (2-9 in 13.3 overs) then restored parity for Rawalpindi with Lahore Shalimar having a modest overall lead of 185.
Hyderabad closed in an emphatic win after Lahore Ravi stumbled to 265-7 in their second innings of the second tier Six Bottom Teams’ competition’s Pool ‘A’ tie at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad.
The visitors, starting their second innings with a huge 217-run deficit, have a paltry lead of 48 runs.
Bahawalpur were poised for an innings victory after enforcing the follow on upon Quetta in their Pool ‘B’ encounter at the Dring Stadium in Bahawalpur.
Quetta, overnight 46-3, were dismissed for 204 in reply to the hosts’ massive total of 552. Taimur Ali, however, stood tall for the visitors with a defiant 105 (180 balls, 16 boundaries).
Batting again, Quetta struggled to 88-3 and require another 260 runs to avert a colossal defeat on Tuesday’s final day.
Close of play scores on Monday (day three of four):
Super Eight:
Group ‘A’:
At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: KARACHI BLUES 254 in 76.1 overs (Javed Mansoor 77, Babar Hussain Aga 66, Zeeshan Jamil 45; Babar Rehman 5-61, Fahim Ahmed 3-73, Shahzaib Ahmed Khan 2-71) and 177 in 65.3 overs (Yasir Hussain 43, Ashraf Ali 41; Babar Rehman 6-51, Khurram Shahzad 2-32); KARACHI WHITES 289 in 89 overs (Saad Ali 78, Mohammad Hasan 58, Shahzaib Ahmed Khan 51, Babar Rehman 30 not out; Faraz Ahmed Khan 4-74, Yasir Hussain 3-76, Rajesh Ramesh 2-48) and 67-0 in 14 overs (Daniyal Mansoor 33 not out, Fazal Subhan 30 not out).
At National Cricket Ground, Islamabad: PESHAWAR 350 in 70.2 overs (Israrullah 148, Mohammad Idrees 84, Adil Amin 42; Imad Wasim 5-89, Mudassar Ali 3-70) and 312-5 declared in 67 overs (Israrullah 138 not out, Mohammad Idrees 74, Jamaluddin 45; Mudassar Ali 3-70, Hamza Nadeem 2-46); ISLAMABAD 286 in 82.5 overs (Imad Wasim 103, Faizan Riaz 64, Afaq Raheem 47; Taj Wali 4-87, Iftikhar Ahmed 2-21, Afaq Ahmed 2-73) and 34-0 in 7 overs.
Group ‘B’:
At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: SIALKOT 392 in 133 overs (Naved Sarwar 127, Ahmed Butt 74, Mansoor Amjad 60, Bilal Hussain 60; Mohammad Rameez 5-133, Aamir Yamin 3-68); MULTAN 337-6 in 109.2 overs (Abdul Rehman Muzammil 130 not
out, Aamir Yamin 87 not out, Usman Liaquat 38; Bilal Asif 2-51, Hasan Ali 2-108)
At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE SHALIMAR 270 in 99.4 overs (Agha Salman 65, Umar Siddique 52, Salman Ali 30; Nasir Malik 6-72) and 136-7 in 68 overs (Arsalan Arshad 65 not out, Mohammad Irfan 31; Nasir Malik 3-48, Akhtar Ayub 2-9, Haseeb Azam 2-38); RAWALPINDI 221 in 74.3 overs (Shoaib Nasir 74, Awais Zia 53; Mohammad Irfan 5-34, Agha Salman 2-47, Mustafa Iqbal 2-53).
Six Bottom Teams:
Pool ‘A’:
At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: LAHORE RAVI 204 in 61.4 overs (Tanzeel Altaf 100 not out, Bilawal Iqbal 38; Furqan Azeem 3-31, Lal Kumar 2-33, Mir Ali Talpur 2-41, Aslam Sattar 2-63) and 265-7 in 84 overs (Farhan Nazar 57 not out, Abdul Wahab Dar 43, Kamran Khalil 42, Ikhlaq Butt 34, Jahangir Mirza 33; Nasir Awais 3-68, Aslam Sattar 2-48); HYDERABAD 421 in 106.2 overs (Faisal Athar 103, Lal Kumar 72, Mir Ali Talpur 56, Zafar Ali 49, Darya Khan 48, Shabih Haider 44; Tanzeel Altaf 3-53, Bilawal Iqbal 3-110, Farhan Nazar 3-157).
Pool ‘B’:
At Dring Stadium, Bahawalpur: BAHAWALPUR 552 in 147.5 overs (Faisal Mubashir 216, Mohammad Yasir 146, Waqas Khan 98 not out; Gohar Faiz 3-122, Faizullah 2-117, Hamal Wahab 2-134); QUETTA 204 in 61.4 overs (Taimur Ali 105, Naushad Irshad 30; Wasim Mustafa 4-59, Imranullah Aslam 3-36, Zahir Siddiqui 2-42) and 88-3 in 35.4 overs Shahzad Tareen 55 not out; Imranullah Aslam 2-27).