Southern Punjab Whites, Central Punjab Blues to lock horns

RAWALPINDI: Toppers from each group Southern Punjab Whites and Central Punjab Blues will play the National Under-19 Championship four-day final here at the Pindi Stadium from November 16.

Southern Punjab Whites topped Pool A while Central Punjab Blues emerged Pool B leaders.

Meanwhile, in the last round of matches Central Punjab Whites and Southern Punjab Whites played a tame draw in Pool A match at the Jinnah Stadium in Gujranwala.

On the third and final day Tuesday, resuming their second innings on 79 for no loss, Southern Punjab declared their innings on 274-1 in 68 overs. Opening batters Aun Shehzad and Arafat Ahmed hit centuries. Aun returned unbeaten on 116, while Arafat scored 103. The pair added 190 runs for the first-wicket. Mohammad Shehzad returned undefeated on 50 off 49 balls.

Chasing 274 to win, Central Punjab Whites managed to score 129-4 in 34 overs when stumps were drawn. Southern Punjab’s Faisal Akram picked 3-32.

In another Pool A fixture, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whites beat Northern Whites by 270 runs in their fifth round match at the Lahore Country Club in Muridke.

Resuming their second innings on four for no loss, Northern Whites were bowled out for 139 in the 48th over. Ali Husnain Sabir top-scored with an unbeaten 47. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s left-arm spinner Mohammad Irfan took 4-34 and ended-up with seven wickets in the match.

Sindh Whites beat Balochistan Whites by 152 runs in the third Pool A fixture being staged at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha. Chasing 364 to win, Balochistan Whites were bowled out for 211 in the 93rd over. Mohammad Nasir top-scored with 60, while Rizwan Ahmed returned undefeated on 57 For Sindh Whites, Abdul Rehman and Adeel Meo picked three wickets each.

Asif Ali spearheaded Sindh Blues to a 75-run win over Balochistan Blues at the National Ground in Islamabad. Resuming their second innings on 113-5, Sindh Whites declared their innings on 184-9 in 39.3 overs. Balochistan’s Wajid Ali picked 4-31, while Kabir Raj grabbed three wickets for 50.

Chasing 260 to win, Balochistan were dismissed for 184 in the 57th over. Obaid Khan top-scored with 62 off 105, hitting 11 fours. Asif picked six for 34 in 11 overs.

In a Pool B fixture being played at the Shoaib Akhtar Stadium Rawalpindi, Central Punjab Blues beat Southern Punjab Blues by 10 wickets. Southern Punjab Blues resuming their second innings on 83-4 were bowled out for 196 in the 74th over. Mohammad Danish top-scored with 50. Chasing 14 runs to win, Central Punjab Blues achieved the target in the fourth over without losing any wicket. In the third Pool B fixture, Northern Blues’ Aseer Mughal hit unbeaten 107 in a drawn game against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Blues. Resuming their second innings on 90-1, Northern Blues declared their innings on 352-6 in 88.4 overs. Aseer’s innings included 18 fours off 189 balls faced. Shamyl Hussain scored 57. In reply, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in their second innings were 166-4 in 34.2 overs when stumps were drawn. Opening batter Chaudhry Shuja top-scored with a 108-ball 84. Northern’s Mehran Mumtaz picked 3-73.