Karachi Blues, Faisalabad move into final

KARACHI: Karachi Blues and Faisalabad qualified for the final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Grade-II on the basis of first innings lead as their semi-finals against their respective rivals AJK and Abbottabad did not yield results on Sunday.

The winners of the summit clash will make it to the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (first-class) season 2019-20.In the first semi-final at Mirpur Stadium, Mirpur, in response to AJK’s first innings total of 113, Karachi Blues resumed their innings at 277-5 and declared it at 351-9 in 81.1 overs to secure a huge 238-run lead.

Rameez Aziz, who was batting on 116, fell for 135. The left-handed batsman struck 15 fours and two sixes in his 163-ball vital knock.

Akbar-ur-Rehman chipped in with 50 which came off 60 deliveriers. Akbar hit four fours. Shadab Majeed bowled impressively, picking 8-116.AJK then reached 151-6 in their second innings till end of the match. Hasan Raza, who had top-scored 37 in the first innings, once again did well with the bat, scoring unbeaten 48 which came off 94 balls and had four fours. Usman Maroof chipped in with 37 for which he faced 73 balls. He hit six fours. Left-arm spinner Mohammad Asghar got 3-55.

Ahmed Nadeem and Farooq Ali Khan supervised the match. Khalid Jamshed acted as match referee.Meanwhile, the other semi-final at Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad between Abbottabad and Faisalabad also ended in a stalemate with the latter securing lead that ensured their final berth.

In response to Abbottabad’s first innings score of 220, Faisalabad reached 255-2 in 64 overs till end of the clash. Khurram Shehzad remained hero for the hosts as he hammered 88 not out. Khurram smashed nine fours in his fantastic 113-ball unfinished knock. He was backed equally well by Shahid Siddiq at the other end as he slammed patient 87 which came off 170 balls and had 11 fours. Pakistan’s discard Ahmed Shehzad belted 57 off 84 balls, hammering ten fours. Arshad Iqbal and Himayatullah got one wicket each.

Earlier, Abbottabad resumed their first innings at 193-6 after the first day’s play had been washed out due to rain and perished for 220 in 71.5 overs. Aitzaz Habib, who was batting on 61 on Saturday, remained not out on 80. He hit 12 fours and one six in his 133-ball knock. Test discard Ehsan Adil was the pick of the bowlers with 4-36. Asad Ali, also a fast bowler, got 2-45.Muhammad Sajid and Nadeem Ghauri supervised the match. Muhammad Wasim served as referee.