KARACHI: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) underlined their status as a champion unit on Friday when they cruised to a crushing 202-run victory against National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) on the penultimate day of the fifth-round Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship tie.
Wapda and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL), meanwhile, both also surged in the right direction with comfortable victories in their respective Pool ‘B’ outings to grab the top two places at this point in time.
Despite missing several first-choice stars to national duty, SNGPL consolidated their grip at the top of Pool ‘A’ by dismissing NBP for 183 after the latter resumed play at 12-0 in their second innings at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.
SNGPL’s fourth triumph has currently opened a 15-point gap with Peshawar, in second spot with 24 points, still in action against Lahore Whites in their game at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) compounded Habib Bank Limited (HBL)’s misery further by sealing a close win by 35 runs at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi when the bankers messed up a relatively reachable target of 193 as they folded up for only 157 48.4 overs.
HBL’s prized signing Umar Akmal continued his indifferent run in the championship when the discarded Pakistan right-hander was bowled by ex-Test paceman Yasir Ali for just four.
KRL’s star performer was young fast bowler Sameen Gul who claimed five wickets for 50 runs in 15 overs barely a few hours after former Pakistan seamer Umar Gul had taken 5-34 in 13.3 overs as KRL were all out for 116 after restarting their overnight second innings at 91-6.
KRL’s third win lifted their points’ tally to 24 and considerably improved their prospects of making the Super Eight stage, while HBL have just 12 points to their name with the latest debacle being their third.
Wapda proved too strong for the demoralised Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) as they chalked up a nine-wicket success at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.
After losing their remaining wicket to be dismissed for 339 with Ehsan Adil finishing undefeated on 85, Wapda bowled out ZTBL for 229 before nonchalantly chasing down a modest 107 on the back of an unbroken stand of 86 between former Pakistan T20 opener Riffatullah Mohmand (64) and the in-form Mohammad Saad (34).
The result left Wapda taking the top berth in the pool with 34 points from three wins with SSGCL a further two points behind following their 10-point feat against Pakistan Television (PTV) whom they whipped by an innings and 46 runs at the Marghazar Cricket Ground in Islamabad.
PTV, who were 199-4 at start of play on day three, lost their last six wickets for the addition of just 53 runs with left-arm paceman Zia-ul-Haq claiming five of those wickets on Friday to finish with figures of 5-66 in 20 overs and match bag of 8-85.
Despite captain Umar Waheed (114 off 263 balls, 16 fours) and Mohammad Nawaz (143 off 200, 19 boundaries) extending their overnight fourth-wicket partnership to 208, Rawalpindi still conceded Karachi Whites a 122-run advantage on the first innings at the UBL Sports Complex.
Resuming at 161-3, the visitors were dismissed for 369 with the main damage caused by paceman Waqar Anwar (5-60 in 31.4 overs).
By stumps Karachi Whites had increased their lead to 166 by making 44-1 in the second innings.
The fixture at the Gaddafi Stadium is still wide open. Peshawar obtained a 24-lead by bowling out Lahore Whites — who were nicely placed at 228-5 in response to the visitors’ 295 at close of play on Thursday — for 271 with left-arm seamer Taj Wali picking up 4-77.
However, Lahore Whites bounced back brilliantly by restricting Peshawar to a second-innings total of 186 thanks to left-arm paceman Bilal Anwar (5-46).
Requiring 181, the home side reached 49-2 when stumps were drawn for the day.
Close of play scores and results on Friday (day three of four):
Fifth round:
Pool ‘A’:
At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: SNGPL beat NBP by 202 runs.
SNGPL 265 in 85.4 overs (Adnan Akmal 65, Hussain Talat 48, Asif Ali 46, Khurram Shehzad 34, Ali Waqas 31; Atif Jabbar 3-53, Ghulam Mudassar 3-76, Hammad Azam 2-12, Kamran Ghulam 2-35) and 164 in 55.4 overs (Hussain Talat 34, Ali Waqas 25, Imran Khalid 24, Asif Ali 20; Mohammad Asghar 4-35, Mushtaq Ahmed Kalhoro 4-43); NBP 44 in 17.3 overs (Mushtaq Ahmed Kalhoro 16 not out; Samiullah Khan Niazi 6-11, Bilawal Bhatti 2-5) and 183 in 58.3 overs (Rameez Raja 37, Umar Siddique 25, Ali Asad 22; Imran Khalid 3-38, Bilawal Bhatti 3-47, Samiullah Khan Niazi 2-35).
At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: PESHAWAR 295 in 77.2 overs (Ashfaq Ahmed 89, Sahibzada Farhan 75, Musadiq Ahmed 62; Waqas Ahmed 4077, Mohammad Irfan 3-68, Bilal Anwar 2-62) and 156 in 37.2 overs (Nasir Ahmed 45, Sahibzada Farhan 33, Israrullah 23; Bilal Anwar 5-46, Waqas Ahmed 3-53); LAHORE WHITES 271 in 109 overs (Ali Rafiq 80, Afaq Shahid 48, Ameer Hamza 38, Nauman Anwar 30; Taj Wali 4-77, Altaf Ahmed 3-46, Sajid Khan 2-53) and 49-2 in 13 overs (Ali Rafiq 26; Nasir Ahmed 2-10).
At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: KRL beat HBL by 35 runs.
KRL 235 in 67.5 overs (Mohammad Mohsin 103 not out, Gulraiz Sadaf 32, Usman Arshad 26, Abdul Rehman Muzammil 24; Ramiz Aziz 2-13, Abbas Afridi 2-33, Abdur Rehman 2-39, Junaid Khan 2-61, Umar Gul 2-70) and 116 in 50.3 overs (Jaahid Ali 28; Umar Gul 5-34, Junaid Khan 3-30); HBL 159 in 43.4 overs (Umar Akmal 33, Imran Farhat 29 not out, Jamal Anwar 21, Sajjad Ali 20; Sadaf Hussain 4-54, Ali Shafiq 2-29, Sameen Gul 2-36) and 157 in 48.4 overs (Mohammad Waqas 32, Ramiz Aziz 30, Zohaib Khan 28; Sameen Gul 5-50, Yasir Ali 2-19, Sadaf Hussain 2-34).
At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ISLAMABAD 542 in 146 overs (Ali Sarfraz 185, Rizwan Ali 135, Faizan Riaz 53, Fahad Iqbal 28, Sarmad Bhatti 25, Ahmed Safi 21; Mohammad Talha 4-161, Khushdil Shah 2-42)); FATA 275 in 90 overs (Afaq Raheem 64, Saeed Khan 64, Asad Afridi 37, Nisar Afridi 30, Khushdil Shah 24; Mohammad Hamza Nadeem 3-55, Ahmed Safi 3-59, Hazrat Shah 3-61) and 49-3 in 20 overs (Asif Afridi 21 not out; Hazrat Shah 2-8).
Pool ‘B’:
At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: KARACHI WHITES 491 in 118.4 overs (Khurram Manzoor 197, Shahzar Mohammad 95, Mohammad Hasan 70, Waqar Anwar 47, Anwar Ali 31, Omair Bin Yousuf 28; Haseeb Azam 4-71, Mohammad Nawaz 3-107, Syed Tauseeq Shah 3-130) and 44-1 in 18 overs (Shahzar Mohammad 24); RAWALPINDI 369 in 119.4 overs (Mohammad Nawaz 143, Umar Waheed 114, Mukhtar Ahmed 38, Umair Masood 35, Naved Malik 20; Waqar Anwar 5-60, Anwar Ali 2-29).
At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: LAHORE BLUES 265 in 114 overs (Rizwan Hussain 97, Irfan Haider 52, Saad Nasim 27, Fahad-ul-Haq 25; Ali Usman 4-58, Asif Fawad 2-48, Mohammad Ali Khan 2-54) and 146 in 43 overs (Fahad-ul-Haq 39, Shahid Nawaz 28 not out; Ahsan Baig 3-26, Mohammad Ali Khan 3-28, Mohammad Irfan 2-25, Asif Fawad 2-33); MULTAN 149 in 59.2 overs (Waqar Hussain 30, Usman Farhat 27, Saif-ur-Rehman 27, Ali Usman 24, Asif Fawad 20; Mohammad Ramiz 4-43, Aizaz Cheema 3-42) and 92-2 in 31.4 overs (Zeeshan Ashraf 34, Imran Rafiq 29, Usman Liaquat 27 not out).
At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Wapda beat ZTBL by nine wickets.
SSGCL 375 in 96 overs (Adil Amin 84, Asif Zakir 78, Maqbool Ahmed 59, Kashif Bhatti 46 not out, Fawad Alam 34, Sami Aslam 29; Azharullah 7-92, Tabish Khan 2-97); PTV 77 in 22.5 overs (Adnan Mahmood 20; Kashif Bhatti 3-7, Zia-ul-Haq 3-19, Sohail Khan 2-30) and 252 in 75.3 overs (Nihal Mansoor 67, Hasan Mohsin 40, Saud Shakeel 37, Ali Imran 25, Adnan Mahmood 24; Zia-ul-Haq 5-66, Kashif Bhatti 2-36, Mohammad Irfan Jr 2-59).
ZTBL 216 in 64 overs (Saadullah Ghauri 88, Raza Ali Dar 45, Aoun Abbas 20; Mohammad Asif 5-56, Sadaif Mehdi 2-29) and 229 in 49 overs (Saadullah Ghauri 58, Mohsin Nadeem 45; Ehsan Adil 3-44, Mohammad Asif 2-42, Sadaif Mehdi 2-43, Hasnain Shah 2-58); WAPDA 339 in 86.5 overs (Mohammad Saad 89, Ehsan Adil 85 not out, Mohammad Asif 34, Kamran Akmal 32, Sadaif Mehdi 21; Mohammad Ali 6-012, Imran Khan 2-59, Mohammad Umair 2-73) and 107-1 in 28.5 overs (Riffatullah Mohmand 64 not out, Mohammad Saad 34 not out).
At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: SSGCL beat PTV by an innings and 46 runs.
Published in Dawn, October 06th, 2018