Danish hits maiden hundred as Sindh beat KP

KARACHI: Danish Aziz hit his maiden List hundred as Sindh defeated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by four wickets in their seventh round fixture of the Pakistan Cup One-day Tournament for First XI here at the SBP Ground on Wednesday,.

The 25-year-old left-handed batsman, who recently toured New Zealand with Pakistan Shaheens, struck unbeaten 101 as Sindh chased a stiff 276-run target with eight balls to spare for the loss of six wickets.

Danish hit six sixes and five fours in his solid 102-ball, match-winning knock. At one stage, Sindh were reeling at 118-5. However, Danish added 148 runs for the sixth wicket with in-form Hassan Khan, who scored gutsy 51 off 55 deliveries, striking two fours. Saad Ali made 64-ball 49 with five fours. Left-arm spinner Asif Afridi got 3-60 in ten overs, while fast bowler Arshad Iqbal claimed 2-12 in 2.4 overs.

Earlier, tail-ender Mohammad Waseem hit 50-ball 54 with five fours and four sixes to enable KP to post 275 all out. Test cricketer Iftikhar Ahmed made run-a-ball 39 with three fours and two sixes. Sahibzada Farhan chipped in with 34-ball 33, hitting four fours and one six while opening the innings. Anwar Ali claimed 2-57 in nine overs.

The win enhanced Sindh’s semi-finals chances as they moved to ten points at the summit. KP trail at the second place with eight points.

Meanwhile, leggie Usman Qadir produced career-best figures of 6-79 in ten overs as Central Punjab recorded their fourth win to take their points to eight when they defeated Northern by 44 runs here at the UBL Sports Complex.

Usman’s magic enabled Central Punjab to dismiss Northern for 286 in the 48th over while chasing 331.

Asif Ali hit 62-ball 88, smacking seven sixes and five fours, while Hammad Azam belted 34-ball 46 with two sixes and three fours.

Earlier, Central Punjab rode on fine batting from Hafiz Saad Nasim (82*), Rizwan Hussain (77), Raza Ali Dar (64) and Tayyab Tahir (53) to pile up 330-5 in the allotted 50 overs. Faizan Riaz got 2-37.

The loss leaves Northern at six points as after winning their initial three matches they lost their four matches on the trot.

Here at the NBP Sports Complex, Southern Punjab recorded their third win when they downed Balochistan by eight wickets.

Balochistan were skittled out for 157 with Bismillah Khan scoring 32-ball 38 with six fours and one six. Ayaz Tasawar made 95-ball 36 with five fours. Left-arm spinner Umer Khan got 5-42 in 9.2 overs.

Southern Punjab chased the target in the 35th over for the loss of two wickets with skipper Shan Masood (66*) and Mukhtar Ahmed (63) scoring fifties. They scored 121 for the opening stand. Shan hit seven fours from 95 balls, while Mukhtar smacked two sixes and six fours from 82 deliveries. Off-spinner Raza-ul-Hasan and Haris Sohail got one wicket each.

The win took Southern Punjab to six points. Balochistan trail at the rock bottom with just four points. There are three more league rounds yet to go before the knockout stage of the six-team event.