Jago Times "English Edition" Best Online Newspaper
KARACHI: After sealing a comprehensive 10-wicket rout of Southern Punjab on Tuesday, Central Punjab have afforded themselves a golden opportunity to defend their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy First XI crown when they take on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the five-day final here at the National Stadium.
Central Punjab, who were rooted at the base of the six-team standings during the first five-match phase without a single victory, chalked up their fourth triumph in second phase to finish second behind Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to earn the right to compete in the title-decider from Friday.
The outcome of the 10th and last round fixture at the SBP Sports Complex was a foregone conclusion on the fourth and final day. Southern Punjab — forced to follow on after capitulating for a first-innings’ tally of 187 on Monday and managed to avert humiliation of an innings defeat when they reached 317-7 — were dismissed for 368 with Saif Badar making 52.
Appropriately, it was Central Punjab’s inspirational skipper Hasan Ali who grabbed the last wicket when he cleaned up Zia-ul-Haq for a first-ball duck to finish with 3-91.
Asked to chase 60, Central Punjab romped to victory in 10 overs without losing any wicket.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the meantime, shut the door on last season’s runners-up Northern at the National Stadium by extending their overnight second innings beyond lunch before Khalid Usman declared at 252-8 with Kamran Ghulam adding yet another half-century (51) after having become the first player in the revamped championship to surpass the magical milestone of 1,000 on Sunday during the course of his fourth century in the ongoing tournament.
Left with a meaningless period at the crease, Northern reached 108-5 before both sides mutually settled for a draw before the mandatory overs were to start in the last hour.
Balochistan provided a fitting farewell to their captain Imran Farhat when they handed bottom-placed Sindh their fifth defeat in the shape of a nine-wicket win at the UBL Sports Complex. The result also meant Balochistan ended their campaign in fourth spot — just one point behind Southern Punjab — with Northern eventually finishing fifth.
Scores and results on Tuesday (final day of four):
First XI, 10th round:
At National Stadium, Karachi: Match drawn.
KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 521 in 130.2 overs (Israrullah 127, Rehan Afridi 127, Kamran Ghulam 107, Zohaib Khan 69, Sahibzada Farhan 62; Ali Sarfraz 4-15, Mubasir Khan 2-108) and 252-8 declared in 68.4 overs (Adil Amin 77, Kamran Ghulam 51, Sahibzada Farhan 38, Israrullah 35, Khalid Usman 20; Mohammad Nawaz 5-69); NORTHERN 336 in 107.5 overs (Nasir Nawaz 65, Mubasir Khan 59, Faizan Riaz 42, Mohammad Nawaz 38, Hammad Azam 37, Umar Amin 31, Ali Sarfraz 26; Sajid Khan 4-114, Khalid Usman 3-89) and 108-5 in 37 overs (Nasir Nawaz 46, Mohammad Nawaz 28; Khalid Usman 3-26, Sajid Khan 2-25).
At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Balochistan beat Sindh by nine wickets.
BALOCHISTAN 414 in 126 overs (Akbar-ur-Rehman 164, Ayaz Tasawwar 72, Imran Farhat 42, Bismillah Khan 42, Umaid Asif 25, Jalat Khan 22; Mohammad Asghar 5-101, Shahnawaz Dhani 2-77, Tabish Khan 2-80) and 100-1 in 26.2 overs (Ali Rafiq 55 not out, Imran Farhat 31); SINDH 195 in 66 overs (Asad Shafiq 87 not out, Azam Khan 38, Mohammad Hasan 27; Kashif Bhatti 4-56, Umaid Asif 3-39, Taj Wali 2-34) and 317 in 115.5 overs (Khurram Manzoor 94, Saud Shakeel 90, Asad Shafiq 56, Saad Ali 25; Kashif Bhatti 4-70, Jalat Khan 4-91, Raza-ul-Hasan 2-64).
At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Central Punjab beat Southern Punjab by 10 wickets.
CENTRAL PUNJAB 493-7 declared in 117.4 overs (Usman Salahuddin 219 not out, Ali Zaryab 78, Saad Nasim 72, Qasim Akram 65; Zahid Mahmood 4-152) and 63-0 in 10 overs (Mohammad Akhlaq 38 not out, Mohammad Saad 25 not out); SOUTHERN PUNJAB 187 in 67.4 overs (Umar Siddique 51, Agha Salman 45, Aamir Yamin 23, Zia-ul-Haq 20; Bilawal Iqbal 3-27, Hasan Ali 3-40) and 368 in 100.4 overs (Zain Abbas 118, Agha Salman 79, Saif Badar 52, Umar Siddique 32, Imran Rafiq 30; Ahmed Safi Abdullah 4-108, Hasan Ali 3-91).
Final standings
(Tabulated under played, won, lost, drawn, points):
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 10 5 1 4 161
Central Punjab 10 4 3 3 137
Southern Punjab 10 4 4 2 129
Balochistan 10 3 4 3 128
Northern 10 3 3 4 123
Sindh 10 1 5 4 87