KARACHI: Punjab ended their losing streak in the Cool & Cool presents Haier Pakistan Cup one-day tournament when they sealed a much-needed victory against Islamabad in Faisalabad on Monday night.

A defeat at the Iqbal Stadium would have sent Punjab out of the tournament but Shoaib Malik’s side won by 30 runs to move into third spot in the standings ahead of their showdown against Sindh on Friday in the last fixture of the preliminary round.

Sindh, with two cakewalk victories under their belt thus far, are the only team to maintain a clean slate in the competition and will qualify for the final provided they get past Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday.

Islamabad, who are led by Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, made a complete mess of an achievable target of 214 when they capitulated at the start of the 47th over for 183. Ammad Butt, the upcoming pace-bowling all-rounder who turns 21 on May 10, was Punjab’s hero as the right-armer picked up a career-best 4-34.

Ammad got wickets at critical junctures to keep Punjab afloat and among them was the prized scalp of Misbah as Islamabad slumped from 45-0 in six overs to 87-7 in the 23rd over in an astonishing period of play.

Misbah had just struck two boundaries in reaching nine from four deliveries when Ammad delivered the coup de grace when he held onto a fine catch on his follow through to leave Islamabad struggling at 66-4 in the 11th over.

Nasir Jamshed (16 off 19 balls) and Sharjeel Khan (30 off 22, four fours and two sixes) had launched the chase in blazing fashion before Ammad trapped Nasir leg-before-wicket at the start of the seventh over.

Malik then struck twice in the very next over to send back Kamran Akmal (5) and Sharjeel in the space of five balls; Kamran was bowled while trying to cut and Sharjeel deceived by an arm ball that rolled back onto the stumps as the stocky tried to defend.

And although Iftikhar Ahmed made a valiant effort to stem the rot with a gutsy knock of 67, Punjab never allowed Islamabad to get back into the match. The only resistance came when Iftikhar, who adorned his 109-ball innings with six fours and one six, and Hasan Ali (27 off 46, two fours and one six) were adding 60 for the eighth wicket.

Ehsan Adil also lent good support to man-of-the-match Ammad and Malik with the wickets of Zafar Gohar and last man Mohammad Irfan, while Zulfiqar Babar displayed great control of line and length in taking 1-13 from his 10 overs.

Saif Badar, who was dismissed without scoring in the first half of the match, was overjoyed when he claimed his first List A wicket when Iftikhar jumped out of his crease but was beaten in the air to be stumped by Mohammad Rizwan.

Earlier, Punjab suffered a mid-innings calamity after Malik elected to bat at the toss. After Salman Butt was superbly taken in the gulley by Shadab Khan in the fourth over, Aamir Yamin was promoted from his usual middle-order spot as the pinch-hitter.

Aamir justified his case with an entertaining 49 from 52 deliveries (four fours and two sixes) as added 85 with Shan Masood before he was brilliantly run out by a direct Shadab throw from point.

Shan, back in the side after being dropped from the previous game, reached 50 off 60 balls (four fours) when he fell to Iftikhar’s off-spin in the 24th over.

Asad Shafiq, who come in at 103-2 in the 19th over, then saw five partners desert him as Punjab subsided to 182-7 before being all out for 213. The Test right-hander batted attractively to make 54 from 51 balls with six boundaries before the gangling Irfan returned to have the diminutive batsman taken at point.

Irfan ended up taking three for 34 with fellow paceman Hasan Ali picking up 2-35 and Shadab 2-27.

Scoreboard

PUNJAB:

Shan Masood c sub b Iftikhar 50 Salman Butt c Shadab b Hasan 10 Aamir Yamin run out 49 Asad Shafiq c Shadab b Irfan 54 Shoaib Malik c Misbah b Shadab 17 Akbar-ur-Rehman c Kamran b Hasan 2 Mohammad Rizwan c Hasan b Shadab 4Saif Badar b Abbas 0 Ammad Butt c Hasan b Irfan 9Zulfiqar Babar not out 7Ehsan Adil c Kamran b Irfan 6

EXTRAS (W-5) 5

TOTAL (all out, 43.3 overs) 213

FALL OF WKTS: 1-18, 2-103, 3-132, 4-164, 5-169, 6-182, 7-182, 8-199, 9-204.

BOWLING: Mohammad Irfan 7.3-0-34-3 (3w); Hasan Ali 9-0-35-2 (1w); Mohammad Abbas 7-1-39-1 (1w); Iftikhar Ahmed 7-0-33-1; Zafar Gohar 8-0-45-0; Shadab Khan 5-0-27-2.

ISLAMABAD:

Nasir Jamshed lbw b Ammad 16 Sharjeel Khan b Malik 30Kamran Akmal b Malik 5 Iftikhar Ahmed c Rizwan b Saif 67 Misbah-ul-Haq c and b Ammad 9Hammad Azam b Ammad 0 Shadab Khan lbw b Zulfiqar 4Zafar Gohar c Akbar b Ehsan 3 Hasan Ali lbw b Ammad 27Mohammad Abbas not out 9Mohammad Irfan b Ehsan 1

EXTRAS (LB-5, W-7) 12

TOTAL (all out, 46.1 overs) 183

FALL OF WKTS: 1-45, 2-54, 3-55, 4-66, 5-68, 6-79, 7-87, 8-147, 9-182.

BOWLING: Ehsan Adil 9.1-0-49-2 (3w); Aamir Yamin 5-0-27-0 (1w); Shoaib Malik 7-0-31-2 (2w); Ammad Butt 10-1-34-4 (1w); Zulfiqar Babar 10-4-13-1; Saif Badar 5-0-24-1.

RESULT: Punjab won by 30 runs.

UMPIRES: Ghaffar Kazmi and Qaiser Waheed.

TV UMPIRE: Asif Yaqoob.

MATCH REFEREE: Musaddeq Rasool Khan.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Ammad Butt.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2016