KARACHI: The seventh and final round of the President’s Trophy witnessed outstanding performa­nces from spinners as it kicked off here across three venues on Sunday. Pakistan Television’s left-arm spi­n­ner Faisal Akram took seven wickets and Wapda’s Asif Afridi claimed five victims in the same match. Meanwhile, Pakistan Test mainstay Saud Shakeel showcased his batting prowess with a century.

At the National Bank Stadium, PTV and Wapda clashed in a match that saw a total of 22 wickets fall on the opening day. Winning the toss and opting to bat first, PTV faced a daunting Wapda bowling attack, managing to score only 146 runs before being bowled out.

Uzair Mumtaz top-scored with 46 runs, while Hasan Mohsin contributed 43. Asif’s exceptional performance, claiming five wickets for 67 runs, limited PTV’s innings. In response, Wapda posted a total of 124 runs in their first innings, with Faisal taking seven wickets for 47 runs.

Ending the day, PTV, in their second innings, scored 51 runs with two wickets falling.

At the State Bank Stadium, Higher Education Commission (HEC) faced off against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL). HEC, batting first, scored 279 runs before being bowled out. Saud led the innings with an impressive 102 runs, including 11 boundaries and a six. Mubasir Khan contributed 55 runs with one six and seven boundaries. Waseem Akram took four wickets for 50 runs. In response, SNGPL reached 24 runs without losing any wickets by the end of the day.

At the UBL Sports Complex, Ghani Glass won the toss against State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and opted to bowl. SBP managed to score 278 runs before being bowled out. Umar Amin continued his fine form, contributing 69 runs, while Osman Salah­uddin added 50 runs. Moha­mmad Mohsin played a significant role for SBP, taking four wickets for 50 runs. In reply, Ghani Glass scored 62 runs without any loss, and no player was dismissed at the end of the day.

Scores in brief:

PTV vs Wapda at National Bank Stadium

PTV 146 in 39.4 overs (Uzair Mumtaz 46, Hasan Mohsin 43, Mohammad Ibtisam 19 not out; Asif Afridi 5-67, Khalid Usman 3-43, Ali Shafiq 2-11) and 51-2 in 11 overs (Muhammad Shahzad 26 not out, Mohammad Suleman 20 not out; Ali Shafiq 1-8, Asif Afridi 1-31); Wapda 124 in 34.1 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 30, Asif Afridi 24, Mohammad Akhlaq 22; Faisal Akram 7-47, Mohammad Sadaqat 1-29, Mohammad Junaid 1-43)

Ghani Glass vs SBP at UBL Sports Complex

SBP 278 in 70.4 overs (Umar Amin 69, Mohammad Mohsin 61, Usman Salahuddin 50; Mohammad Rameez Jnr 4-122, Shoaib Akhtar 3-39, Saeed Ali 1-41, Ghulam Haider 1-44); GHANI GLASS 62-0, 17 overs (Shahbaz Javed 31 not out, Muhammad Azeem Ghumman 25 not out)

SNGPL vs HEC at State Bank Stadium

SNGPL 279 in 77.4 overs (Saud Shakeel 102, Mubasir Khan 55, Mir Hamza 40, Azhar Ali 36; Waseem Akram 4-50, Abdul Rehman 2-65, Umar Lohya 1-23, Syed Tayyab Hussain 1-42, Asif Ali Chandio 1-66); HEC 24-0 in nine overs (Mohammad Mohsin Khan 14 not out, Mohammad Huraira 10 not out).

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2024