RAWALPINDI: Ghani Glass’s fightback in the second innings set up an interesting final day (Tuesday) in the Patron’s Trophy Grade II final against ZTBL here at the Pindi Stadium.
ZTBL were reduced to 61-4, requiring another 71 to win the trophy and a place into first-class cricket next year. However, Tuesday morning could see a tense chase as ZTBL batsmen would be under pressure to chase a winning total. ZTBL team that forced follow on could well be repenting their decision not to bat instead.
The overnight Ghani Glass batsmen Zeeshan Ashraf (119 not out) and Yousaf Babar (84 not out) were instrumental in taking Ghani Glass second innings total to 369. Abdul Waheed (63) also played well to set up 132 runs tricky winning target for ZTBL.
The Bankers, however, started losing wickets late Monday evening with Saadullah (0), Mohsin Nadeem (10), Waqas Saleem (18) and Bilawal Iqbal (1) getting out cheaply.
Aaqib Shah (22 not out) however was at the crease and was carrying ZTBL fortunes going into the final day.Pacer Mohammad Umar (3-27) bowled well and was able to exploit ZTBL players’ reluctance to go all-out or wait for next day for victory.
Scores in brief: ZTBL 293 all out in 78.1 overs (Aaqib Shah 72, Saad Naseem 71, Shakil Ansar 52, Raza Ali Dar 26; Mohammad Umar 4-120, Husnain Bukhari 3-41, Ulfat Shah 2-58) and 61 for 4 in 15 overs (Aaqib Shah 22 not out, Waqas Saleem 18, Mohammad Umar 3-27). Ghani Glass 55 all out in 34.2 overs (Zeeshan Ashraf 14; Hamza Nadeem 3-17, Bilawal Iqbal 3-27, Waqas Saleem 2-4, Mohammad Ali 2-5) and 369 all out in 130.2 overs in 64 overs (Zeeshan Ashraf 119, Yousaf Babar 84, Mohammad Waheed 63; Mohammad Ali 3-68, Bilawal Iqbal 2-58, Hamza Nadeem 2-88).
