NBP overwhelm KRL to reach quarters

KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) made it to the quarter-finals when they romped to their fifth win, overwhelming Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) by six wickets in their Pool A sixth round fixture of the Quaid-e-Azam Cup One-day at KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

KRL had already made it to the knockout stage. Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Islamabad and Peshawar will be fighting in the next round for the remaining two quarter-final seats in Pool A.

In Pool B, Rawalpindi and Multan won their matches to keep themselves alive in the competition. They face each other in the last round fixture next week. The team that wins will make it to the quarter-finals.

Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), Pakistan Television and WAPDA have already qualified for the knock-out stage from the group. In the NBP-KRL outing, KRL posted 252 all out with Shoaib Ahmed smacking a superb 116, his first hundred in List A.

Shoaib, who hit 11 fours and one six from 122 deliveries, added 124 in the fourth wicket stand with Usman Arshad, who belted 71-ball 40. He put on 88 for the sixth wicket with Saif Badar, who chipped in with a solid 55-ball 68, which carried four sixes and two fours.

International all-rounder Hammad Azam picked 3-40. Left-arm pacer Ghulam Mudassir and Mushtaq Ahmed Kulhoro got two wickets each.NBP chased the target in the 47th over after losing four wickets.

Ramiz Raja (53), Kamran Ghulam (51*), Ahsan Ali (40*) and Umar Siddiq (40) did a fine job with the willow.

Shoaib Ahmed also did well with the ball, capturing 3-37.

In the other outing of the group, HBL recorded a crucial win when they defeated Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) by two runs on D/L method. They now have eight points with a game against NBP in hand.

HBL posted 269-8 with Ramiz Aziz hitting 66-ball 43 with two fours and Sajjad Ali making 33-ball 36 with five fours and a six.

Test pacers Rahat Ali and Bilawal Bhatti claimed two wickets each and so did Moosa Khan. In response, SNGPL had reached 205-6 when the game was stopped because of bad weather.

Adnan Akmal (57) and Raees Ahmed (52) scored 96 for the fifth wicket. Khurram Shehzad and Test spinner Abdul Rehman claimed two wickets each.

In the other show of Pool A, at Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad, skipper Imad Wasim hit a fine 104 to keep Islamabad alive as they crushed Peshawar by 115 runs.

Imad, who smashed nine fours and one six in his run-a-ball hundred, guided Islamabad to 288-8.

The prolific all-rounder shared 114 for the fifth wicket with Faizan Riaz (60), who clobbered three fours and a six in his 94-ball effort.

Shehzad Azam scored a fiery 19-ball 40 not out, hitting three sixes and two fours.

Pacer Akmal Khan bagged 3-66. Imran Khan Junior and Mohammad Ilyas got two wickets each.

Peshawar, in response, were bowled out for 173 in the 37th over.

Nabi Gul scored 74-ball 78, which included nine fours and two sixes. Farmanullah picked 4-12 with his off-breakers.

Lahore Whites defeated FATA by four wickets at LCCA Ground, Lahore.

FATA rode on the heroics of Rehan Afridi (59) and Mohammad Arif (31) to score 214 all out.

Waqas Ahmed, Zaid Alam and Haris Bashir captured three wickets each.

Lahore Whites raced to the target in the 42nd over after losing six wickets.

Zain-ul-Hasnain (57), Nauman Anwar (40) and Anas Mehmood (38) were the leading scorers.

Discarded international Abdul Rauf claimed 4-42.

Multan pulled off a much-needed win, beating Karachi Whites by three runs in a Pool B outing at Multan Stadium.

Multan posted 223-9 with Imran Rafiq (85) and Hassan Bukhari (53) batting well.

Karachi Whites were folded for 220 although left-handed Saad Ali (82) and Test batsman Khurram Manzoor (66) added 171 for the third wicket.

At Marghzar Cricket Ground, Islamabad, WAPDA defeated SSGC by 11 runs on D/L method thanks to skipper Salman Butt’s fine 121 not out.

Chasing a huge total of 392, WAPDA had reached 292-3 in 39 overs when bad weather forced the umpires to stop the show.

Salman hit 16 fours and one six in his 89-ball innings — his 23rd List A century.

He was ably backed by Rafatullah Mohmand with 79 runs.

Earlier, Test opener Sami Aslam hit 114 off 109 balls to guide SSGC to 391-7, the highest total of the tournament.

Sami, who struck 11 fours and two sixes, scored 130 for the opening stand with Awais Zia, who chipped in with 63-ball 77, which featured 14 fours and a six.

Sami put on 95 for the second wicket with Ammad Alam, who made run-a-ball 55, which carried six fours and two sixes. Sadaif Mehdi got 3-78.

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Rawalpindi defeated Lahore Blues by 29 runs.

Zeeshan Malik slammed 149 off 143 balls to guide Rawalpindi to 279-6. Zeeshan hit 14 fours and four sixes.

In response, Lahore Blues perished for 250 with Saad Nasim scoring 51. Mohammad Ismail got 4-50.