National U19 50-over Tournament: Northern, Balochistan, Sindh win matches

LAHORE: Northern, Balochistan and Sindh drew blood in the second round of the ongoing National Under-19 50-over Tournament here on Thursday.

An unbeaten 102 from Hussain helped Northern clinch a three-wicket win over Central Punjab. At Rana Naved ul Hasan Cricket Academy in Sheikhupura, after being put into bat, Central Punjab scored 239 for nine in 50 overs. Afzal Manzoor coming to bat at No 9 scored an unbeaten 51 from 42 balls, hitting three fours and four sixes. Hasnat Abbas (47) and Bilal Munir (42) were the other notable scorers.

For Northern, Mubashir Khan took four wickets for 30, while Sajjad Khan grabbed three wickets for 36.

In reply, Northern lost three wickets for 77 runs on the board, but Abdul Faseeh (55 from 70 balls, 11 fours) contributed 86 runs for the fourth wicket with Hussain. Hussain’s unbeaten knock of 102 came from 84 balls, smashing nine fours and six sixes.

For Central Punjab, Umar Eman picked two wickets for 21.

At LCCA Ground in Lahore, Southern Punjab after being put to bat were bowled out for 168 in 38.3 overs against Balochistan.

Right-arm fast bowler Aurangzaib grabbed four wickets for 42 runs in 9.3 overs, while Hikmat Ullah and Mohammad Ibrahim Senior took two wickets apiece.

Southern Punjab’s Mubashir Ali top-scored with a 48-ball 37, hitting three fours and a six. Faizan Zafar and Mohammad Shehzad chipped in with 36 and 33 runs, respectively.

Sindh chased down the target in 38.2 overs, thanks to Haseebullah’s knock of 46 from 73 balls which included six fours and a six. Yasir Khan scored 40-ball 32, smashing three fours and two sixes. The two openers contributed 48 runs. Faisal Akram grabbed two wickets for 31 runs.

At Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Sindh defeated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by 38 runs. After being put to bat, the defending champions Sindh were dismissed for 204 in the 49th over.

Adeel Meo, the star performer for Sindh in the opening round match against Balochistan taking six wickets, shined again, but this time with his bat. He top-scored with a 71-ball 54, laced with four fours. Shahryar Rizvi (32) and Rizwan Mehmood (29) were the other notable scorers.

Izhar Ahmed took four wickets for 25 runs, while Ahmed Khan and Shahid Khan grabbed two wickets each.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were bowled out for 166 in 46 overs courtesy Aaliyan’s four wickets. The off-spinner gave away 35 runs in 10 overs. Kashif Ali and Zeeshan Zameer took two wickets each. Mohammad Farooq’s 50 from 77 balls, hitting five fours and a six went in a losing cause.