Tayyab hits spectacular century in Central Punjab win

KARACHI: Tayyab Tahir hit his maiden List A hundred to enable Central Punjab to notch their first win when they defeated Southern Punjab by four wickets in their fourth round outing of the Pakistan Cup One-day tournament for the First XI here at the SBP Ground on Thursday.

The 27-year-old Gujrat-born Tayyab struck unbeaten 131 off 140 balls to help Central Punjab achieve the stiff 321-run target with five balls to spare after losing six wickets.

Tayyab hammered 12 fours and two sixes in his match-winning feat. He scored 103 runs for the opening stand with Rizwan Hussain, who struck a fiery 37-ball 76, smashing seven sixes and as many fours. Qasim Akram smacking three fours in his 50-ball 46. Mohammad Imran (2-39) and leggie Zahid Mahmood (2-61) were the successful bowlers.

Earlier Waqar Hussain (70), Hussain Talat (60) and Sohaib Maqsood (60) smashed fine fifties to enable Southern Punjab to pile up a huge total of 320-9 in the allotted 50 overs.

Waqar hit six fours and one six in his rapid 64-ball feat, while Hussain Talat smashed two sixes and five fours from 64 balls. Sohaib banged five sixes and five fours from 49 balls. Mohammad Imran chipped in with 47-ball 46 near the end, smacking two fours while Mohammad Ilyas made 20-ball 32 with four fours and one six.

Ahmed Bashir (3-51) and left-arm orthodox Raza Ali Dar (3-67) captured three wickets each while Zubair Khan got 2-77 in ten overs.

At the NBP Sports Complex, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa broke the unbeaten run of Northern, defeating them by four wickets.

Northern were bundled out for 112 in the 37th over with Faizan Riaz scoring 42 off 83 balls, smacking four fours.

Hammad Azam chipped in with a 25-ball 19, striking three fours. Iftikhar Ahmad captured 3-12 in 4.4 overs with his off-spin bowling. Asif Afridi (2-16) and Irfanullah Shah (2-20) got two wickets each.

KP achieved the target in the 24th over after losing six wickets. Sajid Khan, batting down the order, struck unbeaten 20 off 14 balls, striking one six and one four. Mohammad Haris made 21-ball 19, hammering one six and one four. Mubasir Khan took 3-20 in four overs with his off-spinners.

The win took KP to the summit with six points. Northern also have six points but they are behind KP on net run-rate.

At the UBL Sports Complex, Balochistan produced their second win thanks to Amad Butt’s (5-54) fine bowling when they downed Sindh by three wickets.

Amad showed his class with the leather to restrict Sindh to 239-9 in the 47-overs-a-side game after a delayed start due to wet conditions because of overnight dew.

Hassan Khan once again emerged as an impressive batsman for Sindh with a 55-ball 54, striking six fours. Danish Aziz, who recently toured New Zealand with Pakistan Shaheens, belted 71-ball 52, smacking two fours and one six. Asad Shafiq contributed 61-ball 43, clobbering three fours and one six.

Amad was ably backed by left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti who took 2-38 in ten overs.

Balochistan achieved the target with three balls to spare after losing six wickets.

After losing Bismillah Khan, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai and Akbar-ur-Rehman, all falling for duck, Ayaz Tasawwar (69) and skipper Imran Farhat (59) shared 100 for the fourth wicket to revive the innings. Ayaz hit eight fours from 107 balls, while Imran Farhat clobbered nine fours from 65 balls. Kashif Bhatti hit unbeaten 40 off 43 balls, hammering five fours and one six. Mohammad Hasnain was the pick of the bowlers with 3-36 in ten overs, while Mohammad Umar claimed 2-53 in 8.3 overs.