NBP toil hard to avoid relegation

KARACHI: Aiming to avoid relegation, NBP had to toil hard before reaching 203-6 in their first innings on the opening day of their four-day Pool A fixture of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy against SSGC at the Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot, on Thursday.

The hall-mark of the bankers’ innings on the day, which was curtailed to 63 overs due to bad light, was a solid knock from opener Hamza Paracha who hit superb 90 to take his side to a reasonably good total. He kept one end intact during his calculated 179-ball knock which featured 11 fours.

Having lost his partner Ahsan Ali (5) early, the 26-year-old Lahore-born batsman added 50 runs for the second wicket with Ali Asad (18). He then put on 88 runs for the fourth wicket with all-rounder Kamran Ghulam (37), who struck three fours from 87 deliveries.

Bilal Asif (9*) and Raza Hasan (4*) were at the crease when bails were drawn. Fast bowler Ahmed Jamal (2-41), Umar Amin (2-22) and Azhar Attari (2-38) bowled well. In another game of Pool A, at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Aamer Sajjad (88), Khushdil Shah (53) and Bismillah Khan (46) took defending champions WAPDA to 283-8 in their first innings against former champions SNGPL.

After being invited to bat, WAPDA had a disastrous start as they were reduced to 53-4 at one stage, despite a 41-run opening stand.Aamer and wicket-keeper batsman Bismillah applied themselves and scored 84 runs for the fifth wicket to bring their side out of deep trouble.

After Bismillah fell prey to right-arm off-break bowler Iftikhar Ahmed having hit nine fours in his fine 52-ball knock, Aamer scored 87 for the sixth wicket with Khushdil, who hammered six fours and two sixes in his 97-ball effort.

The 36-year-old Aamer, who was dislodged by left-arm spinner Imran Khalid, hit 15 fours in his 131-ball knock.International pacer Bilawal Bhatti (3-75) and young fast bowler Asad Ali (3-54) bowled well. The match will decide whether WAPDA qualify for the Super Eight stage.

Lahore Blues, also eyeing a Super Eight stage seat, had a poor start when they were folded for 220 in their first innings against Islamabad at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.Opener Tahir Tayyab (85) and Hafiz Saad Nasim (56) lifted their team from 99-4 to 198-5 by adding 99 runs for the fifth wicket.

Tahir smashed 11 fours from 85 deliveries. Saad, an international player, struck six fours from 69 deliveries.Fast bowler Shahzad Azam Rana was the main destroyer as he got 6-69. His new ball partner Hamza Nadeem had figures of 4-46.

Islamabad were 25-1 in response by the close of the day’s play.The Pool A game between Super Eight stage aspirants Peshawar and Faisalabad, who are on the verge of relegation, was hit by bad weather as not a single delivery was bowled in the entire day because of fog at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.

In a Pool B crucial match, at Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mipur, Rawalpindi gained early advantage as they secured lead against FATA. After dismissing FATA for 126, they had reached 149-4 by the end of the day.

Umar Waheed (58) and Sarmad Hameed (58) added 99 for the second wicket to help Rawalpindi strengthen their position.Umar hit 14 fours from 79 balls. Sarmad struck nine fours from 105 deliveries.

Left-arm medium pacer Saad Altaf (8-62) produced his career-best figures to enable Rawalpindi to fold FATA for a paltry total.Asif Afridi (28) and Mohammad Naeem (21) were the prominent scorers.

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi, Ali Khan (82) and young left-hander Saud Shakeel (71) guided PTV to 259 all out in their first innings against KRL.Left-arm spinner Nayyar Abbas (3-27) and Ali Shafiq (3-49) did well with the ball. Sadaf Hussain got 2-66.

KRL, in response, were one without loss in 3.4 overs. Test pacers Umar Gul (5-53) and Junaid Khan (3-54) enabled HBL to dismiss UBL for 179 in their first innings. Saad Ali scored 44 which came off 58 balls and had nine fours.In response, HBL were 29-2 at stumps. The outing between Karachi Whites and Lahore Whites at the LCCA Ground, Lahore, was also hit by bad weather as not a single ball was bowled due to wet conditions.