KARACHI, Feb 15: Karachi Whites qualified for the final of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy when they overwhelmed Faisalabad by nine wicket at the National Stadium Friday.
The victory took Karachi Whites to 63 points with one match against Sargodha in hand. Gujranwala, have 51 points from seven matches but stand no chance of reaching the final even if they secure a maximum of 12 points against Faisalabad and Karachi lose to Sargodha.
And it is because Karachi beat Gujranwala by 121 runs in a fourth round action.
Karachi’s march to the final was made easier when Faisalabad’s prolific run-getters Ijaz Ahmad Junior and Fida Husain couldn’t bat after injuring themselves on the second day. Had the two been available to bat, Faisalabad might have held Karachi to a draw to leave the last round action more thrilling and interesting.
Faisalabad, trailing by 250 runs on first innings and resuming this morning at 141 for three, were dismissed for 290 half an hour after lunch. That left Karachi a modest victory target of 41 in a minimum of 31 overs which they achieved in 35 balls.
Karachi paceman Tanvir Ahmed was once again the wrecker-in-chief when they captured four wickets for 94 runs from 29.3 overs. He was quick and accurate to be well rewarded for his hardwork.
Faisalabad’s fightback was led by wicketkeeper/batsman Salman Ahmad who started the day at 11 and returned undefeated on 71 off 165 balls. His innings was studded with 12 hits to the fence.
Sohail Nazir, who was 36 overnight, added just eight runs before a rearguard action by Nadeem Afzal (23), Aqeel Ahmad (20) and Nadeem Ashraf (20) took Faisalabad to the eventual score of 290.
FAISALABAD (1st innings) 223 (Samiul Haq 61, Arif Mahmood 5-43)
KARACHI WHITES (1st innings) (473-8 declared) (Imran Javed 134, Arif Mahmood 105 not out, Moazzam Ali 5-120)
FAISALABAD (2nd innings) (overnight 141-3)
M.Ramazan lbw Tanvir 10
Zahoor Elahi c Irfan b Imran 19
Samiul Haq b Irfan 58
Sohail Nazir lbw Tanvir 44
Mohammad Salman not out 71
Nadeem Afzal c Saeed b Imran 23
Aqeel Ahmad run out 20
Nadeem Ashraf c Moin b Tanvir 20
Moazzam Ali c Moin b Tanvir 1
Ijaz Ahmad Jnr absent hurt
Fida Husain absent hurt
EXTRAS (b16 lb6 nb2) 24
TOTAL (all out) 290
FALL OF WKTS: 1-22 2-45 3-123 4-167 5-197 6-247 7-284 8-290
BOWLING: Tanvir Ahmed 29.3-9-94-4; Imran Javed 14-2-44-2; Tabish Khan 14-5-38-0; Irfanuddin 19-5-60-1; Arif Mahmood 14-3-32-0
KARACHI WHITES (2nd innings)
Hasan Raza not out 18
Ghulam Ali c Sohail b Nadeem 16
Saeed bin Nasir not out 5
EXTRAS (nb3) 3
TOTAL (for one wicket) 43
FALL OF WKT: 1-34
BOWLING: Moazzam Ali 3-0-14-0; Nadeem Ashraf 3-0-25-1; Sohail Nazir 0.5-0-4-0
RESULT: Karachi Whites won by nine wickets
UMPIRES: Iqbal Butt and Zameer Haider
MATCH REFEREE: Abdul Sami Khan.