SNGPL, HBL begin duel for title today

KARACHI: Defending champions Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) will take on former winners Habib Bank Limited (HBL) in the five-day final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2018-19 here at UBL Sports Complex on Tuesday (today).

Both sides will miss many players who are engaged with the Pakistan team, Pakistan A squad or Pakistan emerging side which is set to feature in the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) Emerging Teams Asia Cup to be jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka this week.

Habib Bank coach Saleem Jaffar hoped his team would put in their best in the final.“We have got a balanced combination. The players’ morale is high and I am confident the players will live up to the expectations,” Saleem told ‘The News’ after his team’s net practice on Monday.

“Our batsman Abid Ali has also come and Faheem Ashraf will also be available. Agha Salman has also recovered from injury and is available for the final,” said Saleem, also a former left-arm Test pacer.

When asked whether long gap between the the Super Eight stage and final has broken the momentum, Saleem said definitely it will be the case.“Yes, when you play the final after a long gap the momentum definitely breaks. But around two-week gap has also helped the injured players in particular as they got ample time for recovery. The players also had been exhausted due to long season which had started early,” Saleem said.

The role of skipper Imran Farhat, Mohammad Waqas, Rameez Aziz and Umar Akmal will be vital for HBL who have also won the Quaid-e-Azam Cup One-day this season. Discarded Test pacer Umar Gul, Khurram Shehzad and Test spinner Abdul Rehman will be looking to play a crucial role with the leather for the bankers.

SNGPL, who last year beat WAPDA in the final to reclaim the crown, will be looking forward for a solid contribution with the bat from Test batsman Iftikhar Ahmed, skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, highly experienced left-handed batsman Ali Waqas and Imran Butt. In bowling, they will have the support of discarded international pacer Bilawal Bhatti, left-arm pacer Samiullah Niazi and Mohammad Imran.

Mohammad Asif and Faisal Afridi will supervise the match. Waleed Yaqoob will be the television umpire, Khalid Mahmood Senior, the reserve umpire and Shahid Butt, the match referee.The winners will be handed over a purse of Rs3 million and the runners-up will go away with Rs2 million.

Similarly, Rs100,000 each will be handed over to the best batsman, best bowler and outstanding player/all-rounder.Khurram Manzoor of Karachi Whites leads the batting chart with 886 runs which he has scored at a decent average of 68.15 which included three centuries and three fifties.

Umar Amin of Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) follows with 728 runs which the left-handed international batsman has scored at an average of 56.00 and contains three centuries and one fifty. Discarded international pacer Aizaz Cheema has emerged as the leading wicket-taker this season as the Lahore Blues right-armer has taken 59 wickets. He is followed by spinners Kashif Bhatti (SSGC, 49 wickets), Nauman Ali (KRL, 43) and Abdul Rehman (HBL, 38).