UBL rout Hyderabad, Khalid rescues PQA

KARACHI: Skipper Khalid Latif played one of the best innings of his career when he hit a defiant 134 to save Port Qasim Authority (PQA) from a certain defeat against Peshawar on the last day of their four-day Group A outing at Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar on Thursday.
Khalid hit 22 fours and three sixes in the 23rd century of his career to enable PQA to score 416 all out in their second innings, after resuming at 186-6. PQA had conceded a huge 383 runs lead.
Peshawar needed 34 to win from 13 overs but they were restricted to just ten for the loss of one wicket in two overs when the umpires ended the game due to bad light.
Khalid, who was batting on 22 on Wednesday, added 101 for the seventh wicket with Test cricketer Mohammad Talha who went after the bowlers in the first session before falling, having made an entertaining 74-ball 76 which featured 11 fours and three sixes.
The 30-year-old Khalid, who has played for Pakistan in One-day Internationals and T20s, shared 82 for the eighth wicket with Azam Hussain (32). He then dominated a 69-run association for the ninth wicket with Ali Dawood (5*) to bring his team’s boat close to the shore.
“I have never seen such an innings in my life as Khalid played today,” a match official told ‘The News’ from Peshawar.
Left-arm pacer Taj Wali got 3-151, for a match-haul of 8-181.
Debutant Mehran Alam and Akbar Badshah got two wickets each.
PQA posted 107 in their first innings. In reply, Peshawar made 490-4 declared.
Peshawar gained three points due to their first innings lead which moved them to seven points. PQA have ten points.
United Bank Limited (UBL) romped to their third win of the season to keep the top spot in Group A when they routed Hyderabad by 263 runs at Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad.
Chasing a stiff target of 455, Hyderabad were bowled out for 191 after starting their second innings at 54-2.
Mir Ali played an entertaining innings of 84 which came off 72 balls and had eight fours and four sixes.
Rizwan Ahmed (31) and skipper Azeem Ghumman (26) were the other main contributors.
Left-arm spinner Yasim Murtaza got 3-27. Rumman Raees, Mir Hamza and Ehsan Adil claimed two wickets each. Mir Hamza finished the game with 7-83.
UBL posted 259 and 392-9 declared. Hyderabad perished for 197 in their first innings.
The outcome enabled UBL advance to 29 points.
In a Group B outing, here at National Stadium, Karachi Whites secured three points due to their first innings lead as their clash with Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) remained inconclusive.
The hall-mark of the day’s play was a spectacular 178 off 278 balls from opener Zain Abbas that guided KRL to 328-5 in their second innings after they had resumed at 111-1.
They had conceded 128 runs lead.
The 24-year-old smacked 28 fours in the first century of his career. The left-hander shared 99 runs for the second wicket with Mohammad Yasin (43) and 164 for the fourth wicket with Abdul Rehman Muzammil, who belted 57 with six fours. Medium pacer Babar Rehman captured 2-59.
KRL scored 296 in their first innings. Karachi Whites, in response, piled up 424.
Karachi Whites moved to nine points. KRL stand at 15 points and are at the second place in the group behind National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), who have 33 points.
At the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) gained three points when their outing against Islamabad ended in a stalemate.
After securing 50 runs lead, SSGC declared their second innings at 216-8 after resuming at five without loss to set 267 runs target for the hosts who scored 69-1 by the end of the show.
Usman Tariq smashed 59 with 11 fours while Asif Zakir belted 44 with five fours for SSGC.
Rookie medium pacer Hasan Ali picked 3-68, for 8-133 match-figures.
SSGC accumulated 375 in their first innings. In response, Islamabad scored 325.
The game between Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Lahore Blues at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, also ended in a draw with the former taking three points due to their first innings lead.
Chasing 317, Lahore Blues scored 262-6 in their second innings by the end of the game.
Waqas Saleem (78) and Mohammad Ikhlaq (69) hit fine fifties.
Spinner Imran Khalid got 3-86, for a match tally of 5-195. Bilawal Bhatti claimed 2-39.
After taking 50 runs lead, SNGPL declared their second innings at 251-6.
Misbah-ul-Haq (58) failed to add to his overnight score. Skipper Taufeeq Umar made 54 with six fours. Imran Khalid struck unbeaten 40 with six fours and a six.
Aftab Azwar got 3-70, for match figures of 6-186.
SNGPL scored 445 in their first innings. Lahore Blues responded with 380.