KARACHI, Dec 16: Brilliant centuries from Afaq Raheem and Umar Amin inspired Federal Areas Leopards to a crushing seven-wicket victory over Balochistan Bears in the RBS Pentangular Cup one-day tournament at the National Stadium here on Tuesday.

Afaq slammed a career-best 129 — the 23-year-old right-hander’s fifth limited-overs century while Umar, an immensely gifted 19-year-old left-handed batsman, stroked 125 in the unbroken partnership yielding 251 off 236 balls as the Leopards eased to their first win in the competition with 28 deliveries to spare.

Scoring was never a problem for Umar and Afaq despite the fact that Leopards had slipped to 25 for three in pursuit of the 276-run target after the Bears had been bowled out for 275 in 49.3 overs in the first half of the match.

Openers Raheel Majeed (1) and Babar Naeem (6) were back in the hut with the former smartly run out by a direct hit from Saeed bin Nasir. The promoted Sohail Tanvir failed to cash in on the opportunity to play a long innings and was caught in the trap set by Bears skipper Misbah-ul-Haq.

But turned out to be the last success for the Bears who ran out of options as the magnificent Umar-Afaq partnership blossomed. Danish Kaneria, for one, had a dreadful 28th birthday to remember as the Pakistan leg-spinner remained wicketless while conceding more than six runs an over on average, his 10 overs costing 65 runs.

Umar’s selection of shots was not only impressive, but also proved again why he is rated so highly on the domestic circuit. The former Pakistan Under-19 star underlined his potential when he brought up his first one-day century in the 37th over with a superb drive to the mid-off boundary.

In the next over, Afaq emulated his young partner by turning a full-toss to the midwicket fence to register his hundred.

Both batsmen struck 15 boundaries each with Afaq also hitting a six during his 122-ball knock. Umar negotiated 121 deliveries overall. Match referee Anwer Khan found it hard to separate the pair when he declared them as the joint recipients of the Rs25,000 Man-of-the-Match award, which was presented by national selector Shoaib Mohammad.

Earlier, the Bears relied on Misbah and Fahad Iqbal after losing the first three wickets for 32 runs. The two of them added 114 in 144 balls with Fahad, the younger brother of Test batsman Faisal Iqbal, top-scoring with a 96-ball 68 (four fours and one six).

Misbah, making his first appearance after performing Hajj, batted in his accustomed manner to make 63 off 64 deliveries with four fours and a brace of sixes.

Kamran Hussain added useful runs at the death to ensure the Bears get a competitive score as he slammed seven fours and one six in making 56 off only 34 balls. Abdur Rauf contributed 21 off 14 balls while helping Kamran put on 70 for the eighth wicket.

Predictably, Shoaib Akhtar, the Leopards captain, and Sohail Tanvir shared the bowling honours despite collectively conceding 73 of the 83 runs in the final 10 overs. Shoaib finished with four for 57 while Sohail took three for 57. Rao Iftikhar, in contrast, was immaculate in his line and length to emerge as the most economical bowler in the match with one for 30 in 10 overs.

Scoreboard

BALOCHISTAN BEARS:

Shoaib Khan Jr c Umar b Sohail 21

Hammad Tariq c Raheel b Sohail 0

Saeed Anwar Jr c Afaq b Shoaib 6

Fahad Iqbal c Saeed b Rao Iftikhar 68

Misbah-ul-Haq c Umar b Saeed 63

Saeed bin Nasir b Babar 27

Gulraiz Sadaf c Salman b Shoaib 1

Kamran Hussain c Rao Iftikhar b Sohail 56

Abdur Rauf c Sohail b Shoaib 21

Yasir Ali b Shoaib 0

Danish Kaneria not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-3, W-9) 12

TOTAL (all out, 49.3 overs) 275

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-32, 3-32, 4-146, 5-196, 6-196, 7-201, 8-271, 9-271.

BOWLING: Shoaib Akhtar 10-0-57-4 (1w); Sohail Tanvir 9.3-0-57-3 (7w); Rao Iftikhar

10-3-30-1; Babar Naeem 8-0-50-1; Saeed Ajmal 10-0-63-1 (1w); Afaq Raheem 2-0-15-0.

FEDERAL AREAS LEOPARDS:

Raheel Majeed run out 1

Babar Naeem c Gulraiz b Rauf 6

Sohail Tanvir c Shoaib b Kamran 9

Umar Amin not out 125

Afaq Raheem not out 129

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-2, W-2) 6

TOTAL (for three wkts, 45.2 overs) 276

FALL OF WKTS: 1-5, 2-9, 3-25.

DID NOT BAT: Umair Khan, Naveed Qureshi, Mohammad Salman, Shoaib Akhtar, Rao Iftikhar, Saeed Ajmal.

BOWLING: Abdur Rauf 10-1-54-1 (1w); Kamran Hussain 7-0-38-1; Yasir Ali 9-0-63-0; Danish Kaneria 10-0-65-0 (1w); Saeed Anwar Jr 6-0-37-0; Saeed bin Nasir 3.2-0-15-0.

RESULT: Federal Areas Leopards won by seven wickets.

UMPIRES: Riazuddin and Rasheed Bhatti.

TV UMPIRE: Nadeem Ghauri.

MATCH REFEREE: Anwer Khan.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH (joint): Umar Amin and Afaq Raheem.

WEDNESDAY’S FIXTURE: Balochistan Bears v Punjab Stallions.