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KARACHI: History was created on Tuesday at the National Stadium when the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final provided the first-ever tie across the cricketing globe in any first-class tournament’s decider as a sensational century from Central Punjab captain Hasan Ali forced Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to share the title.
Hasan, by his own admission, drew inspiration from England talismanic all-rounder Ben Stokes, who stroked an unforgettable century in a one-wicket victory at Leeds during the 2019 Ashes series, as he unleashed a blistering 61-ball 106 that included 10 boundaries and seven sixes — several of them clearing the fence by a distance — as Central Punjab were bowled out just one short of the 356-run target.
The finale of the 63rd edition of the country’s premier championship was never destined to conjure up such a result once Central Punjab had lost their seventh wicket — that of Ali Shan for 11 — with the score on 202 to the first ball after lunch on the fifth and final day of a riveting match. Left with a mountain to climb in pursuit of a fourth-innings chase after resuming at 140-2, reigning champions were seemingly dead and buried.
The departure of their most reliable batsman Usman Salahuddin — undone by a magnificent ball from Irfanullah Shah that swung away late to kiss the edge of the right-hander’s defensive bat — for 67 (202 balls, four boundaries) was a body blow after Usman’s overnight partner Mohammad Saad had perished to the fourth ball of the morning.
Central Punjab were jolted by two more shocks on either side of Usman’s dismissal as off-spinner Sajid Khan got rid of Saad Nasim (5) and Qasim Akram (30).
But Hasan, the 26-year-old Pakistan paceman who is also pretty handy with the willow in his hands, was in no mood to throw in the towel. The arrival of Hasan at the crease completely caught Khyber Pakhtunkhwa off guard as each passing minute infused great excitement and cricket was nothing short of high-voltage drama.
Despite the tense situation the game was in — from Central Punjab’s perspective with everyone in the dugout understandably going quiet because the title they had won so convincingly against Northern at the same venue in December 2019 was slipping away — Hasan had no choice but to back his instincts, just as he had done since taking over the captaincy and inspiring the team from the bottom all the way to the final.
Bilawal Iqbal, Ahmed Safi Abdullah and Waqas Maqsood all did a sterling job while playing second fiddle to their captain who was at his inspirational best. The Bilawal-Hasan partnership yielded 47 runs off 37 deliveries in 27 minutes before Ahmed arrived to match Hasan stroke for stroke for the next 45 minutes during their priceless 70-run partnership in just 50 balls.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa tried everything in their power to curb Hasan but their game plans were going haywire because luck also sided with the Central Punjab skipper. With his score on 38, Arshad Iqbal — the young paceman who came into prominence during the 2020 Pakistan Super League in the few matches he played for the eventual winners Karachi Kings, had him caught off a no-ball.
When Ahmed (35 off 23 balls, five fours and one six) found an attempted pull against Sameen Gul cost him dear as the paceman did extremely well to take a well-judged catch off his own bowling.
The look of exasperation on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa players a clear indication of desperation creeping in their ranks when Rehan Afridi — declared the tournament’s best wicket-keeper — miffed a simple stumping off his skipper’s bowling when Hasan had made 77.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finally heaved a sigh of relief when Waqas, in vain, tried to score the winning run but only managed to offer a catch to Kamran Ghulam at mid on off Sajid, who bagged 4-86 and won the best bowler award for his rich haul of 67 wickets.The last pair had put on 36 in 30 balls.
Kamran, in the end, had to settle for just the batsman’s prize for his record-breaking tally of 1,245 runs in a single championship as Hasan’s belligerence fetched him both the man-of-the-match and player-of-the-tournament prizes, while the team prize-money of Rs15 million for the final was equally split between the teams, who remained inseparable until the very end.
The standard of umpiring in the decider was throughout exemplary and both on-field officials Asif Yaqoob — who was adjudged Umpire of the Year — and Rashid Riaz had an excellent game.
Scoreboard
KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA (1st Innings) 300 (Kamran Ghulam 76, Adil Amin 75, Israrullah 61, Zohaib Khan 30; Hasan Ali 4-62, Waqas Maqsood 3-59).
CENTRAL PUNJAB (1st Innings) 257-9 declared (Usman Salahuddin 60, Qasim Akram 60 not out, Saad Nasim 55; Irfanullah Shah 4-73, Khalid Usman 3-32).
KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA (2nd Innings) 312 (Kamran Ghulam 108, Israrullah 63, Khalid Usman 53, Adil Amin 34; Waqas Maqsood 4-77, Bilawal Iqbal 2-57).
CENTRAL PUNJAB (2nd Innings, overnight 140-2):
Mohammad Akhlaq c Israrullah b Arshad 48
Ali Zaryab lbw b Sajid 10
Usman Salahuddin c Rehan b Arshad 67
Mohammad Saad lbw b Arshad 27
Saad Nasim st Rehan b Sajid 5
Qasim Akram c and b Sajid 30
Ali Shan c Israrullah b Irfanullah 11
Bilawal Iqbal c Rehan b Arshad 7
Hasan Ali not out 106
Ahmed Safi Abdullah c and b Sameen 35
Waqas Maqsood c Kamran b Sajid 4
EXTRAS (B-2, LB-1, NB-2) 5
TOTAL (all out, 117.3 overs) 355
FALL OF WKTS: 1-35, 2-89, 3-141, 4-150, 5-179, 6-202, 7-202, 8-249, 9-319.
BOWLING: Irfanullah Shah 19-7-48-2; Sameen Gul 15.4-3-48-1 (1nb); Sajid Khan 26.3-4-86-4; Khalid Usman 20-9-52-0; Arshad Iqbal 31-6-100-3 (1nb); Kamran Ghulam 4-1-16-0; Fakhar Zaman 1-0-2-0; Adil Amin 0.2-0-0-0.
RESULT: Match tied.
UMPIRES: Asif Yaqoob and Rashid Riaz.
TV UMPIRE: Ahsan Raza.
MATCH REFEREE: Ali Naqvi.
OFFICIAL SCORER: Salman Siddiqui.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Hasan Ali.
PLAYER-OF-THE-CHAMPIONSHIP: Hasan Ali.