KARACHI: In a battle of two cricketers who are currently out of favour with the national selectors for different reasons, Faisal Iqbal upstaged Salman Butt as Karachi Whites strolled to a comfortable Cool & Cool presents National One-day Cup victory against Wapda here on Tuesday.

Salman nearly made it two centuries on the trot since the former Pakistan captain returned to competitive cricket from the infamous spot-fixing ban as the 31-year-old hit an unbeaten 99 in the second-round Group ‘B’ clash at the National Stadium.

Faisal, who has not played at the international level since the Sydney Test against Australia in January 2010, played a captain’s knock of 89 as Karachi Whites bounced back from the 34-run loss against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) on Sunday to overpower Wapda by seven wickets.

The result left head coach Tauseef Ahmed in a happy frame of mind before the ex-Pakistan off-spinner hands over charge to former Test batsman Azam Khan after the next game against National Bank of Pakistan on Thursday since he leaves for Dubai with the Pakistan ‘A’ side for the upcoming one-day series against England Lions.

Karachi Whites hardly put on a foot wrong once Faisal inserted Wapda in when he won the toss. By the end of the 20th over, Wapda were struggling at 67-3 and had lost half their side when the score reached 97 in 27 overs.

Salman, however, stood tall to hold up one end until the quota of 50 overs got exhausted with Wapda collecting an inadequate 228-7 on pitch that became easier for the batsmen as the day wore on. Given a life on 13 when Rameez Raja spilled a routine chance at point, Salman adopted a cautious approach from thereon.

Unlike his 135 off 143 balls against Fata in Hyderabad on Sunday, Salman’s 144-ball innings contained just seven boundaries with only two being hit after he had moved to 50 from 76 balls.

Salman, who described the pitch as difficult to bat on in the first half of the match, hardly made attempts to accelerate the already-sluggish scoring rate despite being eyeing the white ball so well.

When the last over began, he was 93 and scored a brace on each of the first two deliveries from left-arm paceman Ghulam Mudassar but lost strike to Zulfiqar Babar by taking a single on the next. Back on strike on the penultimate ball, Salman only managed a single and lost the chance to register his 21st List ‘A’ hundred.

Karachi Whites, in the run chase, were 79-3 in 21 overs before Faisal and Saad Ali came together to seal the match in an unbroken partnership of 150 in 158 balls.

Mohammad Asif, also on the comeback trail from the spot-fixing scandal, generally looked pedestrian as he delivered two spells before finishing with 0-29 in seven overs. Junaid Khan had figures of 0-41 in eight overs with a newly adopted run-up with the pronounced hop-and-jump at the start totally discarded in the wake of injuries the once Test spearhead had picked up.

Faisal, watched by national selector Saleem Jaffer, played a couple of breathtaking strokes during one of the best knocks seen from the 34-year-old nephew of Pakistan batting legend an ex-skipper Javed Miandad as the right-hander struck 10 fours during his 89-ball effort.

The left-handed Saad didn’t lag behind either as he stroked his way to a splendid 74 from 84 balls with seven fours and one six as Karachi Whites won with 16 balls to spare.

NBP rode on Kamran Akmal’s 14th one-day ton to seal a 56-run win against Lahore Whites at the NBP Sports Complex. The skipper hammered 11 boundaries and five sixes in making 119 from 104 balls as NBP posted 293 all out in 49.4 overs after being asked to bat first.

Off-spinner Mazhar-ul-Haq claimed 5-53 in 9.4 overs in only his second List ‘A’ appearance.

Lahore Whites lost two early wickets but recovered to 184-4 after skipper Sami Aslam (60 off 70 balls, three fours and one six) and Usman Salahuddin (89 off 104, seven fours and one six) added 83 for the third wicket. However, the regional side collapsed to 237 all out in the 47th over.

Mohammad Nawaz, the left-handed spinning all-rounder, warmed for the England Lions series with 4-51 in 10 overs.

Talented left-handed opener Zain Abbas celebrated his inclusion in the Pakistan ‘A’ squad with a 124-ball 122 (12 boundaries) as KRL crushed Rawalpindi by 174 runs at the UBL Sports Complex.

Put into bat, KRL amassed 324-6 before left-arm paceman Sadaf Hussain grabbed a career-best 5-27 to dismiss Rawalpindi for 151.

Habib Bank Limited (HBL) also ran out easy victors when Fata lost by 105 runs at the Niaz Stadium.

Fakhar Zaman (78 off 85 balls, five fours and two sixes) and Asad Shafiq (66 off 52, six fours) enabled HBL to make 325-7 before Fata finished at 220-8 with Haroon Sadaqat scoring an unbeaten 80 (108 balls, seven fours).

Meanwhile, heavy rains in the upper regions of the country resulted in all four Group ‘A’ fixtures in Rawalpindi, Peshawar and two in Islamabad being abandoned without a ball bowled with teams sharing points.

Both Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Port Qasim Authority (PQA) suffered shock defeats in Sunday’s opening round matches against Lahore Blues and Peshawar, respectively. SNGPL received more bad news on Tuesday when it was announced their veteran skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, who is also Pakistan’s Test captain, will take no further part in the competition after suffering a calf injury in the first game.

Misbah has been advised rest for at least two weeks with the result of MRI scan still awaited to determine the level of injury.

Tuesday’s results:

Second round:

Group ‘A’:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Hyderabad vs Port Qasim Authority – match abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain.

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: Lahore Blues vs Sui Southern Gas Company – match abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain.

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Islamabad vs United Bank Limited – match abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain.

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: Peshawar vs Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited – match abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain.

Group ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Karachi Whites beat Water and Power Development Authority by seven wickets.

WATER AND POWER DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 228-7 in 50 overs (Salman Butt 99 not out, Naseer Akram 34, Khalid Usman 30, Zahid Mansoor 26; Faraz Ahmed Khan 2-38, Babar Rehman 2-40); KARACHI WHITES 229-3 in 47.2 overs (Faisal Iqbal 89 not out, Saad Ali 74 not out, Jaahid Ali 36, Rameez Raja 20; Naseer Akram 2-53).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Khan Research Laboratories beat Rawalpindi by 174 runs.

KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES 325-6 in 50 overs (Zain Abbas 112, Nauman Ali 51, Mohammad Yasin 44, Saeed Anwar Jr 31, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 30 not out; Yasir Arafat 2-60, Zain-ul-Abedin 2-65); RAWALPINDI 151 in 43.1 overs (Sarmad Hameed 74, Taimur Khan 33; Sadaf Hussain 5-27, Nauman Ali 2-27).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: National Bank of Pakistan beat Lahore Whites by 56 runs.

NATIONAL BANK OF PAKISTAN 293 in 49.4 overs (Kamran Akmal 119, Mohammad Nawaz 41, Fawad Alam 32, Akbar-ur-Rehman 32, Nasir Jamshed 22; Mazhar-ul-Haq 5-53, Bilawal 3-33, Mohammad Waheed 2-51); LAHORE WHITES 237 in 46.2 overs (Usman Salahuddin 89, Sami Aslam 60, Mohammad Waheed 31; Mohammad Nawaz 4-51, Zia-ul-Haq 3-35).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: Habib Bank Limited beat Federally Administered Tribal Areas by 105 runs.

HABIB BANK LIMITED 324-7 in 50 overs (Fakhar Zaman 78, Asad Shafiq 66, Imran Farhat 47, Aftab Khan 37, Ramiz Aziz 31 not out, Abdur Rehman 26; Asif Afridi 2-46); FEDERALLY ADMINISTERED TRIBAL AREAS 220-8 in 50 overs (Haroon Sadaqat 80 not out, Mohammad Irfan 40, Asif Afridi 27, Nisar Ahmed 21; Ammad Butt 2-25, Abdur Rehman 2-40, Altaf Ahmed 2-47).

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2016