Hyderabad outsmart UBL in Silver Cup

KARACHI: Hyderabad Hawks were off to a fine start when they defeated United Bank Limited (UBL) by four wickets thanks to a fine knock from discarded international Faisal Athar in their Group I opener of the President’s Silver Cup One-day Tournament 2014-15 at Mirpurkhas Sports Complex on Wednesday.
Faisal smashed 83-ball 92 with ten fours and two sixes to enable Hawks to achieve the 293-run target with three balls to spare after losing six wickets.
Faisal, who played a One-day International against New Zealand in Dambulla in 2003, added 163 runs for the third wicket with skipper Azeem Ghumman, who belted 88-ball 69 with six fours.
Opener Haris Khan made run-a-ball 52 with three sixes and five fours. Spinners Hasan Mehmood (2-57) and Junaid Ilyas (2-59) bowled well.
Earlier, Bismillah Khan smashed his career-best 145 not out to guide UBL to 292-7. The wicket-keeper batsman cracked 17 fours from 133 balls and added 84 for the second wicket with skipper Ali Asad, who smashed 58-ball 49 with five fours.
Lal Kumar captured 3-55, while Shoaib Leghari got 2-57.
WAPDA boosted their chances of qualifying for the triangular stage when they recorded their third successive victory with a seven-wicket win over Bahawalpur Stags in their Group II show at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.
Waqas Maqsood (3-27) and left-arm spinner Khalid Usman (3-29) bowled impressively to dismiss Stags for only 121. Moinuddin scored 92-ball 54 with five fours.
WAPDA raced to the target in 18.5 overs after losing three wickets.
Iftikhar Ahmed (38), Mohammad Fayyaz (36) and skipper Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (28) batted well.
Ali Ahmed got 2-41 from four overs.
WAPDA will face Habib Bank Limited (HBL) in their last match on February 1 at Gaddafi Stadium.
In another Group II show, at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot, Abbottabad Falcons romped to their second win from three matches when they defeated Sialkot Stallions by 26 runs.
Falcons piled up 241-9 in the stipulated 50 overs. Khalilullah (57) and Nasir Khan (57) added 103 for the fourth wicket.
Khalil struck two fours from 76 balls, while Nasir smacked four fours from 78 deliveries.
Young pacer Hasan Ali got 4-48, while Waqas Ahmed captured 3-49.
Stallions were folded for 215. Faisal Khan struck 70-ball 56 with six fours, while Nouman Anwar (34), skipper Ahmed Butt (33) and Mohammad Yasin (31) were the other prominent contributors.
Haris Khan got 3-47, while Shakeel Ahmed and Inam Khan captured two wickets each.
In a Group III clash at LCCA Ground, Lahore, Awais Zia and Mohammad Nizam blasted fine centuries to enable Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to overwhelm Lahore Eagles by 102 runs.
Awais (112) and Nizam (114*) added 163 for the third wicket to guide SSGC to 310-7.
Awais smacked 17 fours in his 88-ball third century in this form of cricket, while Nizam smashed nine fours and a six in his 146-ball maiden hundred. Asif Raza got 3-55.
In reply, Lahore Eagles perished for 208 with Mohammad Waheed scoring unbeaten 84-ball 75 with eight fours.
Adnan Ghaus captured 3-23. Nasir Malik and Faheem Ahmed got two wickets each.
In another Group II clash, at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, Pakistan Television (PTV) overpowered Multan Tigers by seven wickets.
Tigers were bowled out for 268 with skipper Ammar Ali hitting 99-ball 88 with 11 boundaries. He added 99 runs for the third wicket with Abdul Rehman Muzammil (53), who smashed two fours and a six from 68 deliveries. Shehzad Ali belted 37-ball 40 with three fours and a six.
Mohammad Abbas and Samiullah claimed three wickets each.
In response, Mohammad Naeem (115) and Raheel Majeed (102) put on 193 for the opening stand to enable PTV to reach the target off the last ball.
Naeem smashed 13 fours in his 136-ball first century, while Raheel banged nine fours and four sixes from 125 deliveries. Asif Fawad captured 2-34.
In a Group I match, here at Agha Khan Gymkhana Ground, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) defeated Quetta Bears by 37 runs.
Kamran Sajid (134) and Test cricketer Faisal Iqbal (119) added 214 for the third wicket to guide PIA to 306-3.
Kamran smashed ten fours and a six from 145 balls, while Faisal hammered five sixes and six fours in his 102-ball knock.
Bears, in response, were folded for 269.
Rameez Raja (56), Mirwais Tareen (56) and Zubair Khan (55) were the leading scorers.
Mohammad Ibrahim got 3-56. Kamran Sajid and Test pacer Aizaz Cheema picked two wickets each.