KARACHI: Hammad Azam celebrated his 100th one-day appearance with a brilliant all-round performance while guiding Sindh to an emphatic 85-run defeat of Pakistan Cup holders Federal Areas in Rawalpindi on Saturday night (partly reported in Sunday’s edition).

The Sindh batsmen plundered a record tournament total of 385-4 with Ahsan Ali contributing a maiden List A century (155 off 102 balls, 16 fours and two sixes) while adding 203 for the second-wicket with Sahibzada Farhan (83 off 92, 12 boundaries).

The icing on Sindh’s cake was provided by Umar Amin (69 off 46, five sixes and four fours) and Hammad (78 from only 35 deliveries, 10 fours and three sixes) as the duo with a fair knowledge of the Pindi Cricket Stadium conditions of their hometown ground smashed 126 from the last 9.5 overs with a remarkable 87 of them coming from the final lot of five overs.

Federal Areas’ response to the massive chase fizzled out upfront when Israrullah (10), Ahmed Shehzad (10), skipper Mohammad Rizwan (22), Sohaib Maqsood (7) and Saud Shakeel (52 off 37 balls, nine boundaries) departed in that order to leave the reigning champions reeling at 118-5 after 27 overs.

Rameez Raja, who top-scored with a 62-ball knock of 70 (six fours and three sixes) and Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz (55 off 51, three sixes and three fours) raised hopes of a turnaround with a partnership of 122 but Hammad not only got rid of both batsmen but also sent back Bilal Asif (29) and Waqas Maqsood (13).

The 28-year-old Hammad, long discarded by the national selectors, eventually finished with his best one-day analysis of 4-57 in 10 overs before being adjudged man-of-the-match ahead of Ahsan Ali. Captain Umar Gul, who dismissed Shehzad and Israrullah, claimed 3-30 in six overs, while slow left-armer Nauman Ali bagged 2-56 from his 10 overs.

The demoralising defeat left Federal Areas without a victory from their two matches.

Scoreboard

SINDH:

Umar Siddique c Bilal b Zia 10
Sahibzada Farhan c Sohaib b Bilal 83
Ahsan Ali c Sohaib b Bilal 115
Umar Amin not out 69
Asif Ali b Sameen 16
Hammad Azam not out 78

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-8, NB-3) 14

TOTAL (for four wkts, 50 overs) 385

FALL OF WKTS: 1-11, 2-214, 3-218, 4-259.

DID NOT BAT: Aamir Yamin, Nauman Ali, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali.

BOWLING: Zia-ul-Haq 9-0-80-1 (1nb, 3w); Sameen Gul 9-0-76-1 (2w); Mohammad Nawaz 10-0-51-0 (1w); Waqas Maqsood 8-0-68-0 (2nb, 1w); Bilal Asif 10-1-81-2 (1w); Israrullah 3-0-12-0; Saud Shakeel 1-0-14-0.

FEDERAL AREAS:

Ahmed Shehzad c Aamir b Umar Gul 10
Israrullah c Nauman b Umar Gul 10
Saud Shakeel c Farhan b Aamir 52
Mohammad Rizwan lbw b Nauman 22
Sohaib Maqsood c and b Nauman 7
Rameez Raja c Umar Amin b Hammad 70
Mohammad Nawaz c Umar Gul b Hammad 55
Bilal Asif c Umar Amin b Hammad 29
Waqas Maqsood b Hammad 13
Zia-ul-Haq not out 5
Sameen Gul lbw b Umar Gul 7

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2, W-13, NB-1) 20

TOTAL (all out, 43 overs) 300

FALL OF WKTS: 1-15, 2-49, 3-86, 4-96, 5-118, 6-240, 7-240, 8-266, 9-289.

BOWLING: Umar Gul 6-1-30-3 (1nb, 2w); Junaid Khan 5-0-37-0; Rahat Ali 4-0-42-0 (3w); Aamir Yamin 5-0-44-1; Nauman Ali 10-0-56-2 (1w); Hammad Azam 10-0-57-4 (1w); Asif Ali 3-0-28-0 (1w).

RESULT: Sindh won by 85 runs.

UMPIRES: Mohammad Asif and Waleed Yaqub.

TV UMPIRE: Ahmed Shahab.

MATCH REFEREE: Mohammad Javed.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Hammad Azam.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2019