Asadullah, Hafeez power New Standard to mammoth victory

KARACHI: Wicketkeeper opener Asadullah’s century and left-arm spinner K M Hafeez’s five-wicket haul powered New Standard Secondary School to a mammoth 259-run victory over Hira Foundation School in the Group C encounter of PVCA-EBM Inter-School Tournament here at the Asghar Ali Shah Stadium.

Kamran Public School whipped Superior Educational Academy by eight wickets in a Group B fixture at the Eastern Star Cricket Ground. Asadullah, declared Man of the Match, smashed a couple of sixes and 18 fours in his magnificent knock of 160 coming from 130 balls. Haider Zaman (34 off 33 balls) and skipper Hafeez (29 off 32 balls) lent him admirable support as New Standard Secondary School, batting first after winning the toss, posted 328 for six in the allotted 40 overs.

Extras (50) were also a major contributor, including 44 wides. Medium-pacer Usman Maqbool was the most economical bowler, giving away 38 runs in eight overs. Azan Ahmed picked up a couple of wickets for 60 runs.

Hira Foundation School wilted under the scoreboard pressure and the whole team was bundled out for 69 in 28.5 overs. More than half of them (35) came in the form of extras. Hafeez, with left-arm spin, returned figures of five for five in eight overs, four of which were maidens.

Muhammad Shiraz (3-23) and Uzaifa Shaikh (2-3) shared the remaining wickets. In the other match, Superior Educational Academy’s skipper Zunair Ali Khan won the toss and decided to bat first but his team was bowled out for 92 in 32.1 overs with only opener Shameer Ali (31 off 53 balls) and Usman Mansuri (21 off 30 balls) managing double figures.

The innings was rocked by the Kamran Public School’s spin trio of Abdullah Ashfaq (3-17), Hasan Jafri (2-13) and Rashid Ghani (2-16). Kamran Public School needed only seven overs to complete the job, losing only a couple of wickets in the process. Captain Hasan Jafri, who opened the innings, led the victory charge as he hammered one six and 10 fours in his whirlwind 52 off 22 balls. He was adjudged Man of the Match.