HBL keep hopes alive with win over Sialkot

KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited (HBL) kept their triangular stage hopes alive when they overpowered Sialkot Stallions by six wickets in their Group II match of the President’s Silver Cup One-day at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot, on Friday.
After their second win, HBL (four points) will fight WAPDA (six points) in their do-or-die battle at Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday (tomorrow).
Stallions were bowled out for a paltry total of 149. Bilal Hussain scored 39-ball 30 with two sixes and two fours. Raees Haider made 31-ball 18 with two fours and a six.
Left-arm spinner Aslam Qureshi bowled superbly, picking 3-13 from 7.1 overs. Irfan Fazil, Abdul Ameer and Test spinner Abdur Rehman got two wickets each.
HBL achieved the target in 14.3 overs. Aftab Alam hammered explosive 49-ball 71, smashing 12 fours and a six.
After the early fall of skipper Imran Farhat (6), Aftab, who is from Peshawar, added 69 for the second wicket with Humayun Farhat, who struck a rapid 18-ball 38 with six fours and a six. Raees Haider got 3-40.
In a Group I meeting, at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad, Hyderabad Hawks overpowered Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) by three wickets as Kamran Sajid’s all-round show went in vain.
Kamran Sajid hit 112 off 132 balls with nine fours to propel PIA to 292-5. He added 119 for the fourth wicket with Test cricketer Faisal Iqbal, who made 83-ball 80 with six fours and a six. Mir Ali got 2-29.
Hawks reached the target with two balls to spare. Faisal Athar blasted 111 off 108 balls, smashing 11 fours and a six. Shoaib Leghari struck 50-ball 64 not out with six fours and a six to take his team to victory. Kamran claimed 2-36 from six overs.
In a Group II show, at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Bahawalpur Stags routed Abbottabad Falcons by 92 runs. Stags piled up 294-8 as middle order batsman Rehan Rafiq hammered a fiery 60-ball 81 with seven fours and two sixes.
Rehan added 115 for the sixth wicket with Moinuddin (52), who banged four fours and a six from 48 deliveries.
Faisal Mubashir belted 80-ball 61 with three fours. He added 87 runs for the fourth wicket with Bilal Khilji, who struck 76-ball 45 with three fours. Umair Khan got 3-51.
In response, Falcons perished for 202 with Khalilullah making 59-ball 50 with four fours. Imranullah Aslam got 3-41. Mazhar Bashir and Afraseem Hussain claimed two wickets each.
United Bank Limited (UBL) opened their account by crafting a seven-wicket triumph over Quetta Bears thanks to Junaid Ilyas’ fine bowling at UBL Sports Complex here.
Junaid got 4-22 with his off-spin to enable UBL to dismiss Quetta Bears for 165. Sher Ali (37) and Mohammad Asif (27) offered some resistance. Junaid was ably supported by Rumman Raees (3-20) and Hasan Mahmood (2-42).
Saeed Bin Nasir (57*) and Ammar Hasan (34*) put on 81 for the fourth wicket unbroken stand to take UBL home in 39 overs. Saeed smashed six fours from 72 deliveries. Jalat Khan got 2-34.
UBL had lost to Hyderabad Hawks in their opener the other day.
In a Group II clash, at LCCA Ground in Lahore, Pakistan Television (PTV) notched their second win from three matches when they edged Lahore Eagles by five wickets to stay in contention for a berth in the triangular phase.
Gauhar Hafeez (79), Mohammad Waheed (75) and Tayyab Tahir (62) guided Eagles to 322 all out.
Mohammad Abbas, Hammad Ahmed, Raheel Majeed and Samiullah captured two wickets each.
PTV got the target with seven balls to spare. Mohammad Naeem hit 116-ball 102 with eight fours. He added 111 for the second wicket with Hasan Raza Junior, who belted 56-ball 50 with three fours. Naeem added 114 for the third wicket with Nawaz Ahmed, who belted 53-ball 65 with eight fours and a six.
Usman Ashraf smashed an explosive 24-ball 37 not out with four fours. Zeeshan Mushtaq belted 22-ball 33 with two sixes and a four.
Asif Raza got 2-58.
Faisalabad Wolves outgunned Multan Tigers by three wickets in a Group III match at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.
Sikandar Khan struck 119-ball 93 with seven fours to catapult Tigers to 243 all out. Sikandar added 96 for the third wicket with stumper Shehzad Ali, who belted 55-ball 52 with four fours. Naseer Akram got 4-46 and Imran Ali captured 3-44.
Wolves achieved the target with 12 balls to spare. Hasan Mahmood contributed 75-ball 85 not out with seven fours and a six. Hamza Zaheer (48) and Waqas Wasif (45) ably backed him. Asif Fawad got 3-62. Mohammad Asif and Haziq Habibullah claimed two wickets each.