KARACHI, Jan 11: Karachi Whites, desperately searching for their first win this season, had to settle for only three points in their drawn Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Group-II match against Multan at UBL Sports Complex here on Saturday.
The stumbling block for the hosts was Multan’s young left-handed opening batsman Zeeshan Khan. A compact and neat player, Zeeshan batted superbly to finish on an unbeaten 84 in three-and-a-quarter hours.
Multan, thanks to Zeeshan’s brilliant knock, reached 175 for five after being set an impossible 304 for victory in 54 overs.
Zeeshan stroked 10 boundaries in his 134-ball innings.
Earlier, the left-handed Asim Kamal completed a thoroughly deserved century to help the champions declared their second innings at 212 for six on the final day of the four-day clash.
Asim, who looked composed as ever, slammed eight fours and one six in making 104 off 142 deliveries during a stay of 211 minutes.
Resuming at the overnight score of 91 for one with Asim and Asif Zakir each on 40, Karachi Whites went for quick runs in bid to achieve an outright result.
But in the end, the hosts, who are languishing in fifth place in this group, secured three points for first innings lead. To make the last 16 of the championship, Karachi Whites have to beat lowly Dadu in the final round match, starting from Tuesday.
This tie, which was originally scheduled for National Stadium, will now take place at Pakistan Steel Ground in Gulshan-i-Hadeed, some 30 kilometres from the main city.
Meanwhile, there was a close finish at Bahawalpur Stadium in Bahawalpur where the hosts failed by just nine runs to defeat Pak PWD.
Bahawalpur were 67 for seven in pursuit of target of 76 in 14 overs.
Earlier, diminutive opener Faisal Athar hit 137 as Pak PWD were all out for 272 in their second innings.
Bahawalpur obtained three vital points for their first innings lead.
KARACHI WHITES (1st innings) 376 (Maisam Hasnain 148, Tahir Khan 85, Iqbal Shaikh 53).
MULTAN (1st Innings) 287 (Kamran Ali 73; Arif Mahmood 4-84, Tahir 4-96).
KARACHI WHITES (2nd Innings, overnight 91-1):
Maisam Hasnain lbw b Farhan 6
Asif Zakir lbw b Khurram 51
Asim Kamal not out 104
Mohammad Masroor lbw b Azhar 16
Iqbal Shaikh lbw b Azhar 4
Arif Mahmood lbw b Khurram 11
Tahir khan b Khurram 12
Rizwan Qureshi not out 1
EXTRAS (LB-5, W-1, NB-1) 7
TOTAL (for six dec, 54 overs) 212
FALL OF WKTS: 1-7, 2-111, 3-139, 4-154, 5-183, 6-207.
BOWLING: Azhar Abbas 14-3-56-2; Farhan Abbasi 11-2-42-1 (1w); Mohammad Ali Niazi 5-0-19-0 (1nb); Naeem Iqbal 10-1-34-0; Khurram Butt 14-0-56-3.
MULTAN (2nd Innings):
Zeeshan Khan not out 84
Sajid Waheed b Tabish 20
M. Ali Niazi c sub b Tabish 16
M. Ali Rafi lbw b Tahir 0
Kamran Ali c sub b Nasir 0
Mohammad Shafiq b Rizwan 24
Mohammad Fazil not out 16
EXTRAS (B-11, LB-2, W-1, NB-1) 15
TOTAL (for five wkts, 47 overs) 175
FALL OF WKTS: 1-27, 2-64, 3-75, 4-78, 5-127.
BOWLING: Tabish Khan 16-3-62-2 (1nb, 1w); Nasir Khan 6-1-24-1; Arif Mahmood 8-1-27-0; Tahir Khan 11-2-35-1; Rizwan Qureshi 6-1-14-1.
RESULT: Match drawn.
Summarised scores of other Group-II match:
*At Bahawalpur Stadium, Bahawalpur:
Match drawn.
PAK PWD 146 (Saad Wasim 52 not out, Riaz Shaikh 32; Kamran Hussain 7-52) and 272 (Faisal Athar 137, Riaz Shaikh 31; Kamran Hussain 5-43, Imranullah 4-103);
BAHAWALPUR 343-9 dec (Ahsan Shah 60, Asif Iqbal Jr 50, Maqsood Akbar 48, Kamran Hussain 37, Safdar Niazi 35, M.Rashid 33, Bilal Rana 30 not out; Fahim Ahmed Sr 3-53, Rajesh Ramesh 2-55) and 67-7 (Rauf Akbar 4-35).