ISLAMABAD, Dec 24: Lahore captured the National under-19 Inter-region championship on Friday after gaining first innings lead against Rawalpindi in a match that petered out into a draw.
At the Diamond Cricket ground, hosting its third national final in a month, Lahore dismissed Rawalpindi for a meagre 136 after the home team resumed at the overnight total of 112 for seven wickets.
Jamshed Ahmed who had taken two wickets on Thursday snapped up another two to finish with figures of 4-50. Muhammad Shahzad and Rohail Younis captured three wickets each as the Rawalpindi tail could not make an impression.
With a lead of 95, Lahore were 185 for four in their second innings, when the match concluded on the fourth and final day. Fog in the morning had delayed the start of play by more than an hour while the entire opening day of this final was washed out.
Lahore's Adnan Raza, declared the best batsman of the championship, smashed a fine unbeaten 61 in which he hit 10 boundaries. Raza, who had struck an elegant century in the first innings, faced 90 balls before retiring because of injury. For his fine show in the decider, he was also named Man of the Match.
Others doing well with the bat were Nasir Jamshed and Abid Ali, both of whom scored half centuries. Zohaib Ahmed took two wickets for 50 runs. Rawalpindi's Rizwan Akbar, with 65 wickets in the championship was adjudged the best bowler while his team-mate Naeem Anjum took the best wicket keeper award.
Sialkot's Arslan Anwar claimed the best fielder crown. The winning team was awarded Rs 200,000 in prize money and the runners-up took home Rs 100,000.
SUMMARISED SCORES:
Lahore 231 in 75.4 overs (Adnan Raza 100; Rizwan Akbar 5-53, Tanveer Afzal 2-41) and 185-4 in 51 overs (Adnan Raza 61 not out, Nasir Jamshed 52, Abdi Ali 51; Zohaib Ahmed 2-50);
Rawalpindi 136 in 49.4 overs (Ali Sarfraz 31, Fayyaz 0 Ahmed 27; Jamshed Ahmed 4-50, M. Shahzad 3-38, Rohail Younis 3- 35).