KARACHI Blues were deservingly crowned the inaugural Super Eight champions of the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship after clinching an emphatic nine-wicket victory against Sialkot in the final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Thursday.

The Blues — who sealed their 10th title after having last won the coveted championship in 2009-10 when the pace duo of skipper Mohammad Sami and Tanvir Ahmed sent Habib Bank reeling to 66 all out in a 141-run triumph — raced to their meagre 50-run target in only 7.5 overs while losing young left-handed opener Fakhar Zaman for 20.

Khurram Manzoor, who took over captaincy after regular skipper Faisal Iqbal was picked in the Pakistan squad for the Test series in South Africa, appropriately hit the winning boundary off Ali Khan to end what turned out to be a lop-sided final with the Blues, who finished the only unbeaten side in the championship, being dominant in all departments of the game.

Khurram (15) and the Man-of-the-Match Akbar-ur-Rehman (10) were together when the match ended 37 minutes after the lunch interval amid wild celebrations in the triumphant dressing room.

Sialkot, earlier, lost their last wicket — that of Mohammad Abbas — on the stroke on lunch as Anwar Ali and Tariq Haroon bowled unchanged throughout the session after Mansoor Amjad’s side had resumed at the overnight total of 189-5.

Veteran Mohammad Ayub Dogar remained the last hope of Sialkot’s revival after having scored 57 on day four. But after reaching 69 (114 balls, nine fours), the right-hander got an inside edge to Tariq who went on to take five for 74 in 23 overs with his gentle medium-pacers.

The bearded all-rounded finished with a match haul of seven for 94, while paceman Anwar Ali, who claimed 4-64, had match figures of six for 124.

Akbar, who topped the batting chart in the championship, was awarded the best batsman prize of Rs50,000 for his 986 runs. Karachi Whites’ off-spinner won the best bowler award for taking 55 wickets. Islamabad’s Naeem Anjum, who had 43 victims (including 42 catches), won the best wicket-keeper prize, while Quetta captain Taimur Ali clinched the best fielder award for holding 14 catches.

Karachi Blues, besides winning the glittering Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, won the winners’ prize of Rs1.5 million, while Sialkot earned the runners-up prize of Rs1 million at a simple ceremony with PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmed and director general Javed Miandad in attendance.

Despite fighting half-centuries by Mohammad Ayub Dogar and captain Mansoor Amjad, Sialkot were on the back foot when they came out to bat after Karachi Blues further consolidated their stronghold on the match by finishing with a significant first-innings lead of 199 after having added 27 to their overnight 401-7.

Sialkot, who made a modest 229 in the first innings and are still 10 runs away from avoiding innings defeat, began their long mission to wipe out the big deficit on a satisfactory note as wicket-keeper Shakeel Ansar (11) and Hafiz Majid Jahangir (37) put on 43 for the opening wicket.

But Akbar-ur-Rehman’s double strikes left them battling for survival as Majid and the burly Faisal Khan (10) fell within the space of 16 runs after left-arm seamer Rumman Raees Khan had trapped Shakeel in front of the stumps.

Seasoned campaigner Ayub, the top-scorer in the first innings with 72, for the second time in the match was forced to play the role of a sheet-anchor as he battled through 147 minutes to remain undefeated with an 89-ball 57 studded with seven boundaries. The discarded Pakistan batsman watched Mansoor swing his bat in a cavalier fashion as the duo shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 98 in 91 minutes when Tariq Haroon struck two quick blows to put Karachi Blues in firm control.

A batting all-rounder who seldom bowls above gentle pace, got rid of Mansoor (60 off 77 balls, eight fours and one six) and Nayyar Abbas (4) in successive overs. Mansoor attempted a booming drive but only managed to chop the ball onto his stumps, while Nayyar was caught by keeper Javed Mansoor on the second attempt.

Earlier, Akbar could add just a couple of singles to his monumental 176 after play began in the afternoon session 130 minutes behind schedule following the heavy rains in the Punjab metropolis on Tuesday night.

Akbar paid the price of playing across the line and was leg-before to Bilawal Bhatti who, by far, was the best Sialkot bowler. Akbar’s 178 from 277 balls in a marathon stay of almost seven hours (414 minutes) saw him strike 24 boundaries and one six.

Azam Hussain, who played a key role in assisting Akbar put on 113 for the eighth wicket, scored most of the runs to extend his overnight tally of 53 to a career-best 74 not out. The left-hander’s 90-ball grand effort was embellished with 10 hits to the fence.

Bilawal ended up with analysis of four for 119 in 32 overs of toil with Faisal Rasheed and Ali Khan taking two apiece.

Scoreboard

SIALKOT (1st Innings) 229 (Mohammad Ayub Dogar 72, Hafiz Majid Jahangir 54, Bilawal Bhatti 34; Anwar Ali 4-64, Tariq Haroon 2-20, Azam Hussain 2-22). KARACHI BLUES (1st Innings) 428 (Akbar-ur-Rehman 178, Azam Hussain 74 not out, Fakhar Zaman 34, Bilawal Bhatti 4-119, Ali Khan 2-50, Faisal Rasheed 2-64). SIALKOT (2nd Innings, overnight 189-5): Shakeel Ansar lbw b Rumman    11 Hafiz Majid Jahangir c and b Akbar    37 Faisal Khan lbw b Akbar    10 Mohammad Ayub Dogar b Tariq    69 Mansoor Amjad b Tariq    60 Nayyar Abbas c Javed b Tariq    4 Zeeshan Mushtaq b Tariq    18 Ali Khan c Javed b Anwar    4 Bilawal Bhatti b Anwar    18 Faisal Rasheed not out    7 Mohammad Abbas c Azam b Tariq    0 EXTRAS (B-4, LB-5, NB-1)    10 TOTAL (all out, 70 overs)    248 FALL OF WKTS: 1-43, 2-55, 3-71, 4-169, 5-173, 6-215, 7-222, 8-230, 9-243. BOWLING: Anwar Ali 17-2-60-2; Tabish Khan 5-1-24-0; Tariq Haroon 23-1-74-5; Rumman Raees Khan 7-1-23-1 (1nb); Akbar-ur-Rehman 8-1-25-2; Azam Hussain 10-2-33-0. KARACHI BLUES (2nd Innings): Fakhar Zaman c Ayub b Ali Khan    20 Akbar-ur-Rehman not out    10 Khurram Manzoor    15 EXTRAS (W-6)    6 TOTAL (for one wkt, 7.5 overs)    51 FALL OF WKT: 1-24. BOWLING: Bilawal Bhatti 4-0-29-0 (2w); Ali Khan 3.5-0-22-1. RESULT: Karachi Blues won by nine wickets. UMPIRES: Ahsan Raza and Ghaffar Kazmi. TV UMPIRE: Qaiser Waheed. MATCH REFEREE: Saadat Ali. MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Akbar-ur-Rehman.