KARACHI: Karachi Blues and Lahore Shalimar completed resounding three-day victories by innings in the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship matches on Saturday.
Karachi Blues thrashed Islamabad by innings and 33 runs at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad to finish their Group-I campaign on an unbeaten note with third win. After losing their last two wicket for five runs to be all out for 345, the Blues’ bowlers took just 42.2 overs to dismiss their hosts for 115 in the second innings.
Islamabad, despite suffering their second outright defeat, have already qualified for the Super Eight round, although their final position in the standings would be only confirmed on Sunday. If Lahore Ravi win their fixture against Peshawar then Islamabad would end up third behind Karachi Blues and the Ravians.
Peshawar, it seems, are heading for defeat after following on at the LCCA Ground in Lahore. Replying to the Ravians’ 512-6 declared – a total that included a memorable knock of 308 from their captain Imran Farhat – Peshawar were all out for 209 with Naved Khan contributing 61. Off-spinner Adnan Rasool continued his good form with four wickets for 70 runs.
Multan looked on course for the remaining Super Eight place after securing a decisive first-innings lead over Sialkot at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan. Resuming at 233-3 in reply to their opponents’ 189, the hosts finished up totalling 428 to lead by 239.
After overnight century-maker Sohaib Maqsood was out for 116 (193 balls, 15 fours and one six), Multan skipper Naved Yasin also reached three figures. The left-hander, who began the day on 49, scored 109 from 214 balls with the aid of 16 boundaries.
Wicket-keeper Maqbool Ahmed notched up his maiden half century by making an unbeaten 55.
Sialkot then lost both their openers to reach 65-2 at stumps on the penultimate day of the four-day tie. They sill require 174 to make Multan bat again.
Lahore Shalimar temporarily moved to the top of Group-II standings after crushing Hyderabad by an innings and 25 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
The visitors were bowled out for 218 after beginning the day at 59-0. Sharjeel Khan (60) and Azeem Ghumman (59) shared a first-wicket partnership of 96, but once they had gone, the rot set in with Pakistan discard Wahab Riaz capturing four wickets for 53 runs in 17 overs with his left-arm seamers.
Stand-in skipper Usman Tariq converted his overnight score of 94 into 102 (122 balls, 18 boundaries) as Bahawalpur made 316 in response to Rawalpindi’s first-innings tally of 404-7 declared at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi. Faisal Elahi also made a vital contribution with an undefeated 77.
Rawalpindi went to stumps at 137-3 in their second innings to hold an overall lead of 225.
Faisalabad, who are the only side yet to score any points in the championship, need 213 to score an upset win against Karachi Whites at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.
At close of play on day three, Faisalabad had made 144-3 after Khalid Latif played a captain’s innings to steer Karachi Whites to 207 all out in their second innings.
Khalid, who had scored 34 in a total of 63-5 on Friday, hit 113 off 117 balls with 13 fours and four sixes. Left-arm paceman Samiullah Khan Niazi, a former international, bagged six wickets for 40 runs in 17.1 overs. Asad Ali took 3-85 to end up with a match haul of 10 for 182.
Close of play scores and results on Saturday (day three of four): Group-I: At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE RAVI 512-6 declared in 149.3 overs (Imran Farhat 308, Abid Ali 63, Ali Zahid 52 not out; Riaz Afridi 2-102, Waqar Ahmed 2-104); PESHAWAR 209 in 87.3 overs (Naved Khan 61, Mohammad Rizwan 40, Israrullah 22; Adnan Rasool 4-70, Jahangir Mirza 3-35, Imran Ali 2-24) and 4-0 in 2 overs.
At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: SIALKOT 189 in 75.4 overs (Hafiz Majid Jahangir 105, Mohammad Ayub Dogar 31; Zulfiqar Babar 7-67, Rizwan Haider 2-37) and 65-2 in 26 overs (Zeeshan Mushtaq 26 not out); MULTAN 428 in 127 overs (Sohaib Maqsood 116, Naved Yasin 109, Maqbool Ahmed 55 not out, Saeed Anwar Jr 46; Mohammad Abbas 3-106, Faisal Rasheed 3-145, Nayyar Abbas 2-98).
At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Karachi Blues beat Islamabad by an innings and 33 runs.
ISLAMABAD 197 in 83 overs (Naeem Anjum 64, Zohaib Ahmed 57; Azam Hussain 6-53, Tariq Haroon 3-18) and 115 in 42.2 overs (Naeem Anjum 39, Imad Wasim 29; Akbar-ur-Rehman 3-63, Anwar Ali 2-10, Tabish Khan 2-17, Azam Hussain 2-24); KARACHI BLUES 345 in 80.1 overs (Khurram Manzoor 79, Javed Mansoor 76, Fakhar Zaman 73, Tariq Haroon 53; Nasrullah Khan 4-73, Shehzad Azam Rana 3-67).
Group-II: At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Lahore Shalimar beat Hyderabad by an innings and 25 runs.
HYDERABAD 103 in 43.1 overs (Sharjeel Khan 23; Aizaz Cheema 5-33, Wahab Riaz 3-22) and 218 in 61.4 overs (Sharjeel Khan 60, Azeem Ghumman 59; Wahab Riaz 4-53, Mohammad Irfan 2-37, Abdul Ghaffar 2-38, Aizaz Cheema 2-59); LAHORE SHALIMAR 346-9 declared in 93.3 overs (Usman Salahuddin 101 not out, Imran Butt 59, Umar Akmal 37, Wahab Riaz 31, Mohammad Irfan 27, Fahad-ul-Haq 26; Nasir Awais 2-38, Zahid Mahmood 2-64).
At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: RAWALPINDI 404-7 declared in 83 overs (Umar Amin 129, Umar Waheed 77, Hammad Azam 51 not out, Awais Zia 48, Babar Naeem 31, Awais Zia 26 not out, Adnan Mufti 25; Imranullah Aslam 2-32, Ansar Javed 2-64, Ataullah 2-99) and 137-3 in 31.5 overs (Umar Amin 44, Babar Naeem 33, Awais Zia 26, Umar Waheed 25; Imranullah Aslam 2-50); BAHAWALPUR 316 in 87.5 overs (Usman Tariq 102, Faisal Elahi 77 not out; Hammad Azam 3-54, Sohail Tanvir 3-87, Mohammad Rameez 2-71, Yasir Arafat 2-72).
At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur: KARACHI WHITES 297 in 63 overs (Daniyal Ahsan 90, Khalid Latif 83, Shahzaib Hasan 34, Saad Ali 28; Asad Ali 7-97, Waqas Maqsood 2-70) and 207 in 48.1 overs (Khalid Latif 113; Samiullah Khan Niazi 6-40, Asad Ali 3-85); FAISALABAD 148 in 47 overs (Zeeshan Butt 54 not out, Bilal Yousuf 26; Atif Maqbool 5-55, Adeel Malik 4-24) and 144-3 in 41 overs (Ammar Mahmood 64 not out, Zeeshan Butt 43 not out).