RAWALPINDI, Jan 4: Irresponsible batting on the third day Friday left Islamabad facing defeat against Rawalpindi in their Quaid Trophy Grade-I match at the KRL Stadium.
Rawalpindi, thanks to a 50-run eighth wicket stand between Yasir Arafat and Nadeem Abbasi, hit up 221 in their second innings to leave Islamabad with a difficult target of 294 for victory. They had resumed at the overnight score of 179 for seven.
But Islamabad batsmen instead of batting patiently just threw away their wickets and were a precarious 140 for seven at the close.
Ali Naqvi (6) Bilal Asad (43) and Azhar Mahmood (34) were the culprits and fell to reckless strokes as Rawalpindi prepared to celebrate victory early Saturday, the last day of the game.
The damage was done by Test discard Mohammad Zahid who captured four for 46 while Naeem Akhtar had two for 17.
In the Rawalpindi innings Yasir excelled with the bat as he did with the ball and struck 49 before being dismissed by Saad Janjua.
RAWALPINDI (1st Innings) 176 (Babar Naeem 72; Saad Janjua 4-47).
ISLAMABAD (1st Innings) 104 (Yasir Arafat 4-24).
RAWALPINDI (2nd Innings, overnight 179-7):
Mohammad Naveed c Kashif b Iftikhar 14
Babar Naeem lbw b Iftikhar 25
Shahid Javed c Bilal b Azhar 17
Asif Mahmood lbw b Azhar 7
Naseer Ahmed c Kashif b Iftikhar 12
Pervez Aziz b Azhar 27
Yasir Arafat b Saad 49
Naeem Akhtar b Saad 25
Nadeem Abbasi b Saad 28
Mohammad Zahid c Raheel b Azhar 1
Azhar Bhatti not out 5
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-4, W-1, NB-5) 11
TOTAL (all out, 58.5 overs) 221
FALL OF WKTS: 1-23, 2-52, 3-65, 4-79, 5-102, 6-108, 7-155, 8-205, 9-213.
BOWLING: Azhar Mahmood 24-0-87-4; Rao Iftikhar 16-2-60-3; Saad Janjua 12.5-3-52-3; Ali Naqvi 1-0-1-0; Saeed Ajmal 2-1-9-0; Mohammad Altaf 3-0-7-0.
ISLAMABAD (2nd Innings):
Ali Naqvi c Nadeem b Zahid 6
Raheel Majeed b Zahid 3
Bilal Asad c Pervez b Zahid 43
Atif Ashraf c Nadeem b Naeem Akhtar 18
Azhar Mahmood c Nadeem b Naeem Akhtar 34
Mohammad Altaf not out 9
Saeed Ajmal b Zahid 0
Rashid Amin c Nadeem b Babar Naeem 0
Rao Iftikhar not out 15
EXTRAS (B-3, W-1, NB-8) 12
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 52 overs) 140
FALL OF WKTS: 1-3, 2-20, 3-76, 4-94, 5-118, 6-119, 7-119.
BOWLING (to-date): Mohammad Zahid 18-1-46-4; Naeem Akhtar 12-3-17-2; Azhar Bhatti 12-2-34-0; Yasir Arafat 4-1-17-0; Babar Naeem 3-0-7-1; Pervez Aziz 3-0-14-0.