Panthers slay NBP, Dolphins stun ZTBL in Gold Cup

KARACHI: Peshawar Panthers and Karachi Dolphins shocked National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), respectively, in their matches of the President’s Gold Cup One-day Tournament 2014-15 here on Wednesday.
Peshawar Panthers stunned star-studded NBP by 24 runs, while Dolphins surprised Abdul Razzaq-led ZTBL with a convincing margin of seven wickets in their Group I showdowns. Here at NBP Sports Complex, Adil Amin (51) and skipper Akbar Badshah (42*) played fine innings to guide Peshawar Panthers to 219-7 after the match was reduced to 38 overs a side due to delayed start because of rain.
Adil smashed four boundaries and a six in his superb 50-ball fifty, while Akbar smacked four fours and a six in his explosive 21-ball knock.
Earlier, left-hander Israrullah (37) and Musaddiq Ahmed (29) provided a solid 59-run lead to Panthers, who had given walkover in their opener to ZTBL as their flight from Peshawar was cancelled on Sunday. Mehram Ibrahim hit 45-ball 34 with four fours in the middle order to help his side post a fighting total on the board.
Spinner Mohammad Asghar was the pick of the bowlers with 3-53.
In response, after losing a few quick wickets, which included Nasir Jamshed (1) and skipper Kamran Akmal (1), Test cricketer Qaiser Abbas (60) and Fawad Alam (44) added 71 for the sixth wicket to bring some stability to the innings. But they failed to achieve the target due to poor display from the tail-enders and perished for 195 in 37.3 overs.
Qaiser struck six fours and two sixes in his rapid 44-ball fifty. Fawad hit six fours from 59 balls. Left-arm pacer Taj Wali got 3-40 from eight overs, while spinner Jibran Khan picked 2-20 from 5.3 overs.
At the RLCA Gulberg Ground, wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Hasan smashed a glorious 131 not off 117 deliveries with 16 fours to enable Karachi Dolphins to reach the 279-run victory target in 41.2 overs after losing three wickets.
He added 140 runs for the fourth wicket unbroken stand with Saad Ali, who smashed unbeaten 52-ball 53 which had five fours and a six.
Sohail Tanvir got 1-42 from 7 overs and Iftikhar Anjum 1-58 from 7.
After opting to bat first, ZTBL had posted 278-5 in the stipulated 45 overs.
Left-handed international Sharjeel Khan (67) and Yasir Hameed (63) gave a solid 122-run opening stand. Sharjeel struck ten fours in his run-a-ball 67, while Test discard Yasir hammered six fours and a six from 80 balls. After a hiccup in the middle, Shoaib Malik (66) and Abdul Razzaq (63) batted well to take their team to a good total.
Shoaib hit six fours and two sixes in his rapid 55-ball knock, while skipper Abdul Razzaq struck two sixes and two fours from 55 balls. Left-arm spinner Faraz Ahmed captured 2-32 from nine overs.
In a Group II show here at UBL Sports Complex, Port Qasim Authority (PQA) defeated Karachi Zebras by eight wickets.
Zebras posted 200-8 in the allotted 50 overs with Saud Shakeel scoring 101-ball 57 with three fours.
Faraz Patel (28), Mansoor Ahmed (26*) and Sohaib Khan (20*) were the other prominent contributors. Test pacer Mohammad Talha picked 4-24 from ten overs, while Azam Hussain captured 2-41.
PQA raced to the target in 36.2 overs after losing two wickets. Test discard Khurram Manzoor struck unbeaten 85-ball 83 with 13 fours, while skipper Khalid Latif made 74-ball 59 with seven fours and a six. Sohaib Khan and Mansoor Ahmed took one wicket each.
At National Stadium, Karachi, KRL edged Islamabad Leopards by seven wickets. Imad Wasim (89) and Sarmad Bhatti (60) blasted fine fifties to catapult Leopards to 237 all out in 48.3 overs. Sadaf Hussainn got 4-40.
KRL got the target in 44.3 overs.
Openers Zain Abbas (85) and Mohammad Yasin (75) shared 116 for the first wicket.
Kamran Hussain got 2-40 from seven overs.
Here at the Southend Club Ground, SNGPL demolished Rawalpindi Rams by ten wickets when they raced to the 54-run target in 10.1 overs. Rams perished for 53. Atif Jabbar got three while Asad Ali, Imran Khalid and Hussain Talat picked two wickets each.
At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) overwhelmed Lahore Lions by nine wickets when they got the 257-run target in 45.3 overs thanks to fine hundreds from openers Mukhtar Ahmed (111) and Babar Azam (129*). Earlier, Saad Nasim (72) and Mohammad Ikhlaq (67) enabled Lions to post 256-9.
Left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar got 4-52 from ten overs.