KARACHI, Nov 8: The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) have all but booked their spot in the Pentangular Cup final after scoring a thumping ten-wicket victory over Federal Areas in the preliminary-round fixture at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar on Saturday.
Paceman Shakeel-ur-Rehman played a pivotal role in helping the NWFP to their second straight three-day win with a match haul of 11 for 110. He captured five for 38 as Federal Areas were skittled out for 103 in the second innings.
The 26-year-old Shakeel, who claimed six for 78 runs in Federal Areas’ first innings, continued to torment the visitors by taking five wickets for 25 in a nine-over second spell after going wicketless in a three-over burst with the new ball.
Junaid Khan, the left-arm pacer, captured three for 37, including that of Usman Saeed, who was the top-scorer with 73 in Federal Areas’ first innings.
Opener Umair Khan, who forced to bat at No 7 since he had remained off the field on Friday for a lengthy period, was the highest scorer in the second innings with an unbeaten 22.
Mohammad Aamir, the young pace bowler who made his first-class debut in this game, was unable to bat in the second innings after sustaining an injury while fielding on Friday.
Riffatullah Mohmand, opening in place of skipper Yasir Hameed, struck nine boundaries in scoring an unbeaten 52 off 60 balls after the NWFP were set a small target of 78.
Earlier, the NWFP took a lead of 25 runs on the first innings thanks to a last-wicket stand of 43 between Zulfiqar Jan and Junaid Khan. Zulfiqar, the tall wicket-keeper/batsman, made 60 off 118 balls with the aid of eight fours and two sixes before he provided Pakistan reject Yasir Arafat with his fifth wicket of the innings.
The NWFP, who defeated Balochistan by an innings and 236 runs in Quetta in the first round, now top the standings with maximum 18 points. They meet defending champions Sindh in the next round, also in Peshawar, from Wednesday.
Scoreboard
FEDERAL AREAS (1st Innings) 236 (Usman Saeed 73; Shakeel-ur-Rehman 6-72).
NWFP (1st Innings, overnight 230-9):
Yasir Hameed c Usman b Shahzad 76
Adnan Raees c Naveed b Aamir 4
Riffatullah Mohmand c Afaq b Yasir 0
Shoaib Khan c Afaq b Yasir 0
Aftab Khan c Fayyaz b Shahzad 39
Wajid Ali c Afaq b Yasir 20
Zulfiqar Jan b Yasir 60
Yasir Shah c Usman b Yasir 10
Shakeel-ur-Rehman lbw b Umar 2
Nauman Habib c Jamal b Shahzad 6
Junaid Khan not out 10
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-12, W-5, NB-16) 34
TOTAL (all out, 70.4 overs) 261
FALL OF WKTS: 1-14, 2-21, 3-21, 4-111, 5-153, 6-170, 7-184, 8-202, 9-218.
BOWLING: Yasir Arafat 28.4-3-97-5 (9nb); Mohammad Aamir 7.2-1-27-1 (1nb, 1w); Shahzad Rana 19-2-75-3 (5nb); Umar Amin 12.4-2-35-1 (1nb); Imad Wasim 3-1-14-0.
FEDERAL AREAS (2nd Innings):
Afaq Raheem lbw b Shakeel 16
Umar Amin c Zulfiqar b Junaid 13
Imad Wasim lbw b Shakeel 13
Fayyaz Ahmed c Shoaib b Shakeel 1
Naveed Qureshi b Shakeel 10
Usman Saeed lbw b Junaid 3
Umair Khan not out 22
Yasir Arafat c Adnan b Shakeel 13
Jamal Anwar c Zulfiqar b Junaid 6
Shahzad Rana b Nauman 1
Mohammad Aamir absent hurt -
EXTRAS (LB-2, W-2, NB-1) 5
TOTAL (all out, 33.5 overs) 103
FALL OF WKTS: 1-31, 2-41, 3-46, 4-49, 5-52, 6-70, 7-84, 8-94, 9-103.
BOWLING: Nauman Habib 9.5-2-26-1 (1w); Shakeel-ur-Rehman 12-3-38-5 (1nb, 1w); Junaid Khan 12-3-37-3.
NWFP (2nd Innings):
Adnan Raees not out 21
Riffatullah Mohmand not out 52
EXTRAS (LB-4, W-3, NB-2) 9
TOTAL (for no wkt, 17.4 overs) 82
BOWLING: Yasir Arafat 5-2-9-0 (1nb, 1w); Shahzad Rana 5-1-31-0 (1nb); Umar Amin 4-0-18-0 (2w); Imad Wasim 3.4-0-20-0.
RESULT: NWFP won by 10 wickets.
UMPIRES: Salim Badar and Rasheed Bhatti.
MATCH REFEREE: Khalid Niazi.