RAWALPINDI, Jan 13: Opener Afaq Raheem and one down batsman Bilal Asad spearheaded Rawalpindi Rams to a comfortable nine-wicket victory on Thursday against Karachi Zebras in the National One- Day Cup at the Rawalpindi Stadium.
Afaq, adjudged Man-of-the-Match, struck an elegant 108 not out off 117 deliveries in a knock featuring 13 fours while Bilal stroked a quick fire unbeaten 74 as the Rams overhauled Zebras' 211 for seven, for the loss of one wicket.
The Rams who put their rivals in to bat first, struck two early blows through pace men Najaf Shah and Yasir Arafat before Farhan Adil who scored 69 and Saeed bin Nasir (40) gave shape to the innings.
Najaf, in a tidy spell claimed two wickets for 32 runs off nine overs two of which were maiden while slow left arm bowler Alamgir Khan also had two scalps. Rawalpindi faced no problems in the run-chase and except for one early hiccup - the wicket of Ashar Zaidi for 11 - they romped home with almost 10 overs to spare.
Pace man Nasir Khan took the only Rawalpindi wicket to fall. The Rams are now due to play Sialkot Stallions on Saturday at the same venue.
SCOREBOARD
KARACHI ZEBRAS
Fahad Iqbal b Najaf 7
Tariq Haroon c Bilal b Yasir 0
Farhan Adil c Rauf b Alamgir 69
Saeed bin Nasir run out 40
Nomanullah b Najaf 37
Sharjeel Ashraf c Bilal b Alamgir 6
Farhan Iqbal run out 15
Imran Javed not out 22
Muhammad Hasnain not out 5
Extras (B-1, LB-6, W-1, NB-2) 10
Total (for seven wkts, 45 overs) 211
Fall OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-25, 3-118, 4-132, 5-148, 6-171, 7-187
BOWLING: Yasir Arafat 9-0-38-1, Najaf Shah 9-2-32-2, Rauf Akbar 6-0-47-0, Rizwan Akbar 9-2-32-0, Alamgir Khan 9-1-36-2, Ashar Zaidi 3-0-19-0
RAWALPINDI RAMS
Afaq Raheem not out 108
Ashar Zaidi c Farhan b Nasir 11
Bilal Asad not out 74
Extras (B-3, LB-1, W-15) 19
Total (for one wkt, 35.1 overs) 212
Fall OF WKT: 1-25
BOWLING: Muhammad Hasnain 3-0-20-0, Nasir Khan 7-1-37-1, Tariq Haroon 4-0-23-0, Imran Javed 3-0-25-0, Nomanullah 3-0-22-0, Adnan Malik 9-1-38-0, Fahad Iqbal 3-0-24-0, Saeed bin Nasir 3.1-0-19-0.
Umpires: Mian Aslam and Nazir Jnr
Match Referee: Khateeb Rizwan