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Thursday March 28, 2024

Imran, Fahad guide HBL to Stags demolition

KARACHI: Skipper Imran Farhat blasted a spectacular hundred to enable Habib Bank Limited (HBL) to notch off their maiden victory with a 236-run demolition of Bahawalpur Stags in their Group II match of the President’s Silver Cup One-day Tournament at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot on Monday. Left-handed Imran struck

By Alam Zeb Safi
January 27, 2015
KARACHI: Skipper Imran Farhat blasted a spectacular hundred to enable Habib Bank Limited (HBL) to notch off their maiden victory with a 236-run demolition of Bahawalpur Stags in their Group II match of the President’s Silver Cup One-day Tournament at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot on Monday.
Left-handed Imran struck an explosive 137 off 117 deliveries to guide HBL to 340-7 in the allotted 50 overs.
Pacer Fahad Masood (3-4 from 3 overs) and left-arm spinner Aslam Qureshi (3-16 from 6 overs) then bowled lethally to dismiss Stags for only 104.
After being invited to bat first, Imran Farhat led from the front and smashed 11 fours and five sixes in his 14th hundred in this form of cricket.
He dominated the 140-run opening stand with Aftab Alam, who struck 51-ball 53 with five fours and a six.
Imran added 124 for the second wicket with Asad Shafiq, who scored 74-ball 68, hitting nine fours.
Stumper Humayun Farhat hammered a quick-fire 12-ball 21 with three fours.
Ansar Javed got 2-48 from eight fours. Imranullah Aslam claimed 2-58 from ten overs.
In response, Stags’ wickets fell like nine pins and they were folded in just 34.5 overs.
After a disastrous start, Bilal Khilji (39) and Moinuddin (36) shared 62 for the fifth wicket. But after their fall none of the batsmen could enter double figures.
Bilal struck two fours from 88 balls, while Moinuddin smacked five fours from 61 deliveries.
Asad Shafiq took 2-14 in 4.5 overs.
HBL, who were stunned by Abbottabad Falcons by four wickets in their opener, opened their account with two points.
In the other show of this group, at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, WAPDA romped to an eight-wicket triumph over Abbottabad Falcons after the game was reduced to 24 overs a side due to bad weather.
Abbottabad Falcons posted 130-9 in the stipulated 24 overs.
The previous match hero Nasir Khan struck 30-ball 39 with four fours and a six. Mohammad Ali struck 29-ball 26 with four fours. Left-arm international spinner Zulfiqar Babar got 3-23. Waqas Maqsood and Mohammad Ali picked two wickets each.
WAPDA reached the target in 20 overs after losing two wickets.
Mohammad Fayyaz hammered unbeaten 58-ball 60 with seven boundaries. Fayyaz shared 61 for the second wicket with Rafatullah Mohmand (28) and 55 for the third wicket with left-hander Adnan Raees who smashed 18-ball 28 with four fours. Fazal-e-Rabi and Shakeel Ahmed got one wicket each.
At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) notched their first win when they edged Faisalabad Wolves by four wickets thanks to left-arm spinner Faheem Ahmed’s splendid bowling.
Faheem captured 6-32 from nine overs to dismiss Wolves for 186 in 42.2 overs.
Asif Ali hit a fiery 24-ball 36 with three sixes and three fours, while Waqas Asif made a patient 26.
Opener Usman Tariq smashed 102-ball 84 with 11 fours to enable SSGC to achieve the target in 38 overs after losing six wickets.
Sadaqat Ali got 3-28, while Jahandad Khan captured 2-43.
Lahore Eagles overcame Multan Tigers by seven runs on D/L method after bad weather interrupted the proceedings at the LCCA Ground in Lahore.
Kashif Naved smashed a fiery 53-ball 90 not out with 12 fours and three sixes to guide Tigers to 194-6 in the stipulated 24 overs.
Mohammad Suleman got 2-33.
Eagles were given a 182-run victory target from 23 overs which they achieved off the last ball. Jehangir Mirza struck unbeaten run-a-ball 50 with five fours and a six, while opener Tayyab Tahir belted 52 off just 27 balls with eight fours and two sixes.
Captain Fahad-ul-Haq scored a valuable 24-ball 32 with two fours and a six. Haziq Habibullah and Kashif Naved claimed two wickets each.