KARACHI: Inspired by Ashar Qureshi’s rich haul of 12 wickets, Karachi Blues qualified for PCB Under-19 National Cricket Champ­ionship with a nine-wicket win over Abbottabad in Mirpur on Friday.

After bowling out Abbottabad — who were 98-5 at start of play on the third and final day of the second match of the triangular stage at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium, for 203 in the second innings — Karachi Blues were left needing a modest 78 runs for victory.

Imran Shah made short of the chase by hammering an undefeated 51 from only 48 deliveries with the aid of eight boundaries as Karachi Blues got in 14.3 overs after the opener had shared a first-wicket partnership of 68 with Waleed Khan (24 off 34 balls, three fours).

Earlier, Ashar took another wicket to finish with 4-77 in 17 overs, giving the talented leg-spinning all-rounder brilliant match bag of 12-138 in 48 overs.

Paceman Ali Umar was the most successful bowler with five wickets for 64 runs while Abbottabad all-rounder Mansoor Ali Khan struck a defiant 53 after the early departure of his captain Mohammad Arif, who added only 10 to his overnight score of 64. Mansoor hit eight fours and a brace of sixes during his 58-ball while Arif’s 92-ball innings contained 10 fours and two sixes.

Despite losing this fixture Abbottabad still are in the hunt for the four-day final if Karachi Blues prevent Karachi Whites from winning the last game of the triangular series.

In the opening fixture, drawn affair, Abbottabad earned three points after taking first-innings lead over Karachi Whites.

Scores and result on Friday (final day of three):

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur: Karachi Blues beat Abbottabad by nine wickets.

ABBOTTABAD 186 in 68.3 overs (Mohammad Arif 61, Basit Afridi 39, Danish Sarhadi 35; Ashar Qureshi 8-61, Kahaf Patel 2-19) and 203 in 46.5 overs (Mohammad Arif 74, Mansoor Ali Khan 53; Ali Umar 5-44, Ashar Qureshi 4-77); KARACHI BLUES 312-9 in 83 overs (Taha Mahmood 86, Haider Ali 82 not out, Imran Shah 32, Waleed Khan 30, Daniyal Naveed 30; Arshad Iqbal 3-73, Mansoor Ali Khan 2-44, Hamza Khan 2-56) and 79-1 in 14.3 overs (Imran Shah 51 not out).

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2017