Ahmed’s sparkling ton gives KPT lead

KARACHI: Ahmed Iqbal hit a splendid unbeaten century and Raza Ali Dar and Babar Rehman smashed fine fifties to enable Karachi Port Trust (KPT) to take vital four runs lead against K-Electric on the second day of their three-day semi-final of the Patron’s Trophy Grade-II here at National Stadium on Wednesday.
Ahmed (114*), Raza (93) and Babar (76) batted superbly to take KPT to 397-8 in their 83 overs after resuming their first innings at six without loss in response to K-Electric’s 393-8.
KPT needed three runs off the last ball for taking lead when Ahmed Iqbal smacked left-arm pacer Mir Hamza for a glorious six to provide a seemingly decisive lead.
If the game was not decided on the last day on Thursday (today) it would be the KPT who would move into the final on the basis of the first innings lead.
The winners of this show will meet Omar Associates in the final at the same venue from May 12 to 15. Omar Associates beat Khayaban-e-Amin on the basis of first innings lead in a rain-affected semi-final at LCCA Ground, Lahore, early this month.
At one stage, KPT were struggling at 100-4 and it seemed that K-Electric would take the lead. But Ahmed and Raza batted with perfection and added 145 runs for the fifth wicket to bring KPT back into the game.
Raza, who was removed by leg-spinner Shahzaib Ahmed, hit five fours and two sixes from 135 deliveries.
After their partnership was broken, K-Electric made a great comeback when they sent Faraz Patel (1) and skipper Mohammad Hasan (15) in quick succession to reduce KPT to 277-7.
But tail-ender Babar Rehman contributed more than was expected of him and added a valuable 102 for the eighth wicket with Ahmed to enable KPT to surpass K-Electric’s first innings score.
Babar batted magically, smashing six sixes and six fours in his 45-ball knock before being caught by Saad Ali off the bowling of Mir Hamza.
Ahmed, who stood like a rock, hammered five fours and a six in his sedate 152-ball feat.
Shah Ali Zafar (30), Faisal Khan (20) and openers Anas Mahmood (22) and Nadeem Javed (14) failed to play big innings after making good starts.
Left-arm spinner Faraz Ahmed got 3-107 from 26 overs, while leggie Shahzaib Ahmed claimed 3-11 from 27 overs. Mir Hamza (114 from 19) and Waqar Anwar (1-54 from 11) were the other successful bowlers.
At stumps, K-Electric were 57 without loss in ten overs in their second innings with skipper Ramiz Raja batting on 28 and Behram Khan on 26.
KPT’s coach Mahmood Rasheed was happy with the way his team played. “Ahmed, Raza and Babar batted superbly,” Mahmood told ‘The News’. “We have got the lead but still one cannot say anything as there is one day left. Let’s see what target they set; we will try to achieve that,” said Mahmood, a former first-class cricketer.
K-Electric’s Sports Manager Zabe Khan said the opponents took the game away in the last 15 overs or so. “After we opted to take the new ball, KPT’s batsmen started hitting boundaries and at the end we could not defend our total which was unfortunate,” Zabe said.
“Now we will try to make quick runs in the first session tomorrow and give ample time to our bowlers to bowl the oppositions out in the remaining overs. It’s difficult but in cricket anything can happen,” said Zabe. The match is being supervised by umpires Ihtasham-ul-Haq and Rashid Riaz.