Abbottabad stun star-studded Habib Bank

KARACHI: Abbottabad Faclons pulled off a major upset when they defeated star-studded Habib Bank Limited (HBL) by four wickets in their Group II opener of the President’s Silver Cup One-day Tournament 2014-15 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday.
Nasir Khan, playing his first one-day match, struck unbeaten 58 off 41 balls to enable Falcons to reach the 257-run target with two balls to spare.
In the last over, from pacer Fahad Masood, Flacons needed five to win which they scored off the first four balls with an enviable ease.
Nasir, who has played six first-class matches, was involved in a 53-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Sohail Akhtar, who blasted 33-ball 45 with four fours and two sixes.
Nasir, who struck eight fours and a six, shared 27 for the seventh wicket unbroken stand with Shakeel Ahmed (11*) to take his side home.
Earlier, Khalilullah (42) and Sohail Akhtar shared 74 for the fifth wicket. Khalil, who was run out by Asad Shafiq, struck four fours from 41 deliveries.
The top order batted calmly with opener Sajjad Ali scoring 70-ball 39, hitting three fours and a six. Waqar Orakzai scored only 28 off 66 balls with two fours which put pressure on the rest of the bating line up.
In the first 25 overs, Falcons managed only 74 and in 42 overs they had reached 171. However, they made a fine fight-back due to Nasir’s blitz by plundering 86 runs off 46 deliveries.
Off-spinner Aftab Alam picked 2-29 from five overs.
Earlier, Test discard Hasan Raza smashed 55-ball 59 not out to guide HBL to 256-7 in 50 overs after they were invited to bat first.
Hasan, who smashed six fours in his magnificent knock, added 50 for the fifth wicket with Rameez Aziz (39) and 61 for the seventh wicket with Humayun Farhat (40) to take the bankers to a good total.
Rameez struck two fours from 62 balls, while Humayun smashed six fours and a six in his 26-ball knock.
After losing the openers cheaply, Asad Shafiq (47) and skipper Imran Farhat (29) made recovery by adding 44 for the third wicket.
Asad smashed seven fours from 68 balls, while Imran cracked two fours from 46 balls.
Aziz-ur-Rehman, Ikramullah Khan and Shakeel Ahmed got two wickets each.
In another Group II match at the LCCA Ground, Lahore, Multan Tigers outsmarted Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) by four wickets.
SSGC were bowled out for 206 in 48.3 overs. Opener Usman Tariq scored 46 off 66 deliveries, smashing six fours. Tariq Haroon scored patient 56-ball 35 with four fours.
Sadaf Mehdi got 3-35, while Majid Ali and Kashif Naved got two wickets each.
Tigers reached the target with nine balls to spare after losing six wickets.
Shehzad Ali (53), Abdul Rehman Muzammil (50) and Kashif Naved (43*) played useful innings.
Tariq Haroon and Adnan Ghous got two wickets each.
At the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, Faisalabad Wolves overwhelmed Pakistan Television (PTV) by seven wickets after the match was curtained to 20 overs a side due to rain.
PTV were restricted to 94-9 in 20 overs with Usman Ashraf scoring 26 and Nawaz Ahmed 16.
Mohammad Zubair (3-9) and Naseer Akram (3-15) bowled splendidly.
Wolves raced to the target in 14.4 overs after losing three wickets. Hasan Mahmood struck unbeaten 37, while Mohammad Zubair hit 17. Samiullah captured 2-21.
At the Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot, WAPDA crushed Sialkot Stallions by 138 runs thanks to skipper Rana Naved-ul-Hasan’s fine hundred.
Test all-rounder Rana Naved (100) and left-hander Adnan Raees (81) added 188 runs for the fourth wicket to enable WAPDA to pile up 264. Rana smashed six fours and three sixes from 115 balls.
Ayaz Tasawwar belted 29-ball 39 with four fours and a six. Hasan Ali (4-62) and Bilal Asif (4-64) bowled well.
Stallions perished for 126 in 39.4 overs. Israr Ali (31), Bilal Asif (23) and Raees Haider (21) were the prominent scorers.
Pacer Waqas Maqsood got 3-33 from seven overs, while spinners Khalid Usman and Asif Khan picked two wickets each.