Karachi Whites beat Faisalabad in low-scoring opener

KARACHI: The last year’s runners-up Karachi Whites were off to a smart start when they defeated Faisalabad by five wickets in a low-scoring opener of the National One-day Cup for Regions at the KRL Ground, Rawalpindi, on Thursday.

After being invited to bat first on a lively track when Karachi Whites’ skipper Asad Shafiq won a vital toss, Faisalabad were skittled out for only 77 in 36 overs.

Tail-ender Waqas Maqsood (13) and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq (12) were the only players to manage double figures. As many as 17 runs came as extras. The former Pakistan captain Misbah smashed one four during his 34-ball struggle.

Left-arm Test pacer Rahat Ali (3-22), Anwar Ali (3-9) and left-arm pacer Zia-ul-Haq (3-22) bowled well.

Karachi Whites achieved the target in 25 overs after losing five wickets. Akbar-ur-Rehman scored 24 not out off 66 balls, hitting two fours. Danish Aziz chipped in with 23-ball 16 with three fours. Left-arm pacer Waqas Maqsood (3-14) troubled Karachi Whites’ batsmen with his swing bowling.

Rawalpindi overpowered Islamabad by four wickets thanks to skipper Sohail Tanveer’s superb bowling and fine batting from the top order at the Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi.

Sohail picked 4-43 to enable Rawalpindi to restrict Islamabad to 196-9 in the allotted 50 overs. Faizan Riaz (53) and Shehzad Azam (51) cracked fine fifties. Faizan banged six fours and one six in his 87-ball knock. Shehzad hit 51-ball 36 with two fours and one six.

Zohaib Ahmed clobbered four fours in his 42-ball 31.Sohail was ably backed by left-arm experienced pacer Sadaf Hussain (2-34) and young pacer Yasir Ali (2-43).

Rawalpindi rode on fine fifties from Iftikhar Ahmed (61*), Naved Malik (60) and Azhar Ali (52) to reach the target in 40.1 overs after losing six wickets.

Naved smashed 11 fours in his 66-ball knock. He scored 99 for the opening stand with Test batsman Azhar Ali, who struck seven fours from 84 deliveries. Test cricketer Iftikhar Ahmed banged 11 fours in his rapid 53-ball unfinished knock.

Hamza Nadeem (2-51) and spinner Raza Hasan (2-36) were the successful bowlers. At National Ground, Islamabad, Umaid Asif’s all-round show and skipper Usman Salahuddin’s fine batting enabled Lahore Whites to defeat Lahore Blues by two wickets.

Lanky pacer Umaid picked 3-47 to enable Lahore Whites to restrict Lahore Blues to 272-7.Usman struck unbeaten 94 and Umaid hit an explosive 13-ball 34 to guide Lahore Whites to the target in 43 overs after losing eight wickets.

Skipper Usman shared 104 for the fifth wicket stand with Test stumper Adnan Akmal (45) to make things easy for Lahore Whites. Usman hit five fours and two sixes from 85 balls. Adnan smashed six fours and one six in his quick-fire 33-ball innings.

Test discard Aizaz Cheema, who had topped the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy bowling chart, picked 2-57. Also to get two wickets were left-arm spinners Raza Ali Dar (2-26) and Qaiser Ashraf (2-56).

Earlier, talented young batsman Mohammad Saad (96) batted with perfection to guide Lahore Blues to a decent total in 43 overs. The match was reduced to 43 overs a side due to delayed start because of wet conditions.

Saad, who had scored three centuries in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy while playing for WAPDA, smashed seven fours and two sixes from 89 balls. Hafiz Saad Nasim made 33-ball 44 with six fours. Test opener Sami Aslam (44) and skipper Kamran Akmal (41) put on 79 for the opening stand to pave the way for a decent total.

The left-handed Sami cracked three fours from 60 balls. Kamran smacked seven fours from 39 deliveries. Umaid was ably backed by spinner Zafar Gohar who took 2-59.At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad, defending champions Peshawar were off to an inspiring start when they bulldozed FATA by seven wickets.

Sahibzada Farhan (88) and Ashfaq Ahmed (58) put on 107 for the second wicket to help Peshawar to achieve the 220-run target in 45.1 overs after losing just three wickets.

Farhan smashed eight fours and one six from 107 balls. Ashfaq hammered eight fours from 64 deliveries. International stumper Mohammad Rizwan chipped in with an excellent 56-ball 40 not out, which carried five fours.

The 31-year-old medium pacer Sohail Akhtar got 2-38. Future prospect Khushdil Shah slammed 73-ball 61 with four fours and three sixes to guide FATA to 219 all out in 46.4 overs. Fawad Khan blasted 29-ball 39 with six fours and two sixes. Taj Wali (2-49), Azizullah (2-45), Zohaib Khan (2-34) and Akbar Badshah (2-23) bowled well.The second round of the eight-team event will be held on Saturday (tomorrow).