KP Whites & Blues in final

ISLAMABAD: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whites and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Blues will play the final of the National Under-19 One-day Cup following their last-round victories.

The final will be played on Sunday at the Pindi Stadium.

In the last pool match, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whites beat Northern Whites by a huge margin of 210 runs at the Lahore Country Club, Muridke to qualify for the final of the tournament. They will take on Pool B topper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Blues on November 14.

After being put in to bat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whites scored 294 for six in 50 overs.

Opening batter Afaq Khan top-scored with 87-ball 89. Sahal Yousaf and Mohammad Farooq scored half-centuries. Northern’s Jahandad Khan took three for 66, while Arslan Sajjad bagged two for 38.

Northern Whites were dismissed for 84 in the 24th over with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s right-arm fast Mohammad Umar taking six for 16, while Khalid Shah took three for 24.

In the second Pool A fixture being staged at the Jinnah Stadium in Gujranwala, Central Punjab Whites beat Southern Punjab Whites by four wickets.

After being put in to bat, Southern Punjab Whites were dismissed for paltry 115 in the 31st over. Mohammad Awais top-scored with 33. Central Punjab’s Mohammad Ibtisam Ahmed took four for 45, while Hunain Shah picked three for 20.

Central Punjab Whites chased down the target in the 26th over for the loss of six wickets. Azan Awais top-scored with 41 off 34, laced with four fours and two sixes. For Southern Punjab, Awais Abbas grabbed three for 44.

In the third fixture of Pool A at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha, Sindh Whites defeated Balochistan Whites by 32 runs in a low-scoring game. Batting first, Sindh Whites were bowled out for 109 in the 25th over. For Balochistan Whites, right-arm fast Qurban Ali picked 5-31, while Jan Mohammad bagged three for 26.

In reply, Balochistan Whites were bowled out for 77 in the 21st over. Adeel Meo with his left-arm spin took five for 21, while Ali Shinwari grabbed two for 33.

In a Pool B fixture, Ali Ishaq’s unbeaten 68 and Khawaja Mohammad Hafeez five-wicket haul led Sindh Blues to a nine-wicket win over Balochistan Blues. Batting first Balochistan U19 Blues perished for 123 in the 35th over. Khawaja with his left-arm spin picked five wickets for 23, while Aaliyan Mehmood and Asif Ali picked two wickets each.

Sindh Blues chased down the target in the eighth over for the loss of one wicket. Opening batter Ali struck 10 fours and four sixes off 27 balls faced, while Rizwan returned undefeated on 11-ball 30, smashing two fours and as many sixes.

In the second Pool B fixture, an all-around performance from Maaz Sadaqat guided Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Blues to a 98-run win over Northern Blues at the Shalimar Cricket Ground in Islamabad.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Blues batting first scored 311 for four in 50 overs with Chaudhry Shuja top-scoring with 93. Maaz coming to bat at number three scored 86 off 78, hitting eight fours and one six. Ahmad Khan returned undefeated on 75 off 38.

In reply, Northern Blues despite a 95-run opening stand between Shamyl Hussain and Haseeb Khan were bowled out for 213 in the 37th over. Shamyl top-scored with 73 off 69, which included eight fours and three sixes, while Haseeb scored 42-ball 46.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Maaz with his left-arm spin picked four for 25 in eight overs, while off-spinner Abu Bakar bagged 3-41.