KARACHI: Sialkot won the battle of attrition against hosts Islamabad on Friday to put themselves ahead in the race to join Karachi Whites in the semi-finals of the PCB Inter-Region U-19 One-day Cricket Championship.

Both regions headed to the Diamond Club Ground for their penultimate-round Group ‘A’ fixture with the same equation: five victories in six previous fixtures but Sialkot displayed total cricket to outwit Islamabad by a handsome margin of 73 runs.

Abdullah Shafiq blasted 105 off just 92 deliveries as Sialkot reached an impressive 302-7 in their stipulated 50 overs after captain Mohsin Riaz had won the toss. Abdullah struck 12 boundaries and one six after Momin Waqar (53 off 48 balls, seven fours) and Aashir Mahmood (43 off 36, seven fours) added 66 in less nine overs for the first wicket.

The icing on the cake was provided by Abdullah and Mohsin, who together put on 154 for the fourth wicket, Mohsin scored a measured 53 with his 83-ball knock including four hits to the fence.

Paceman Sardar Khan grabbed three wickets for 53 runs.

Islamabad never really were in the hunt with the first six wickets tumbling for just 86 runs on the board inside the opening 21 overs of the tough chase.

The hosts made partial recovery thanks to a gallant seventh-wicket partnership of 126 between Mohammad Hammad, who slammed eight fours and four sixes in a hurricane 85-ball innings of 108, and Abu Hurraira (47 off 73 balls, two boundaries).

But a final tally of 229 in 46.1 overs meant Sialkot now enjoy a two-point ahead of Sunday’s last-round tie with Bahawalpur as pace duo of left-armer Adnan Haider (3-27 in 7 overs) and Usman Sajjad (48 in 8.1) shared the bulk of wickets falling.

While both Karachi Whites and Karachi Blues, who are already through to the last-four phase of the competition, rounded off their fixtures with seventh success apiece in their respective pools, Lahore Blues and Quetta recorded crucial wins on Friday to stay in hunt for the remaining place available from Group ‘B’.

Lahore Blues held onto to their second position behind Karachi Blues by sealing an emphatic 137-run victory at the UBL Sports Complex here.

Skipper Zaid Alam made Larkana pay for their unwise move to bowl first at the toss by striking a magnificent 145, with his run-a-ball knock embedded with 13 fours and four sixes, Lahore Blues amassed 319-3.

After having shared an opening stand of 78 with Ibtisam-ul-Haq (30, Zaid was joined by Uzair Nasir in a rollicking second-wicket partnership of 206 in almost 30 overs together.

Uzair ended up making 116 with his 97-ball unconquered innings featuring 11 boundaries.

The shell-shocked Larkana side then folded up for 182 in 48.3 overs with wickets being mainly shared by spinners Qasim Akram (3-15) and Ahmer Jalil (2-24).

Quetta overpowered Abbottabad by 52 runs at the TMC Ground to keep their aspirations alive with this fifth success. Defending a modest 198, Quetta spin duo of off-spinner Abdul Nasir (4-25 in 10 overs) and the one-name leg-spinner Hussain (4-35 in 9.1 overs) as Abbottabad mustered 146 all out in 41.1 overs.

The permutation for Lahore Blues and Quetta is quite perplexing as they battle Fata and Multan, respectively on Sunday. If both win, Lahore Blues will qualify on net run-rate but if the Lahore boys lose and Quetta win, then Quetta could be celebrating a famous qualification in their cricketing history.

Dera Murad Jamali, meanwhile, finally had something to cheer about as they earned their first victory with a nine-wicket thrashing of Hyderabad in an inconsequential Group ‘A’ game at the National Ground in the federal capital.

Friday’s results:

Eighth round:

Group ‘A’:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Bahawalpur beat Lahore Whites by six wickets.

LAHORE WHITES 105 in 31.1 overs (Faisal Ali 51; Mohammad Naved Malik 4-23, Mohammad Junaid 3-12); BAHAWALPUR 109-4 in 21.2 overs (Ali Imran 37 not out, Sharjeel Ahmed 24; Danish Butt 3-24).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: Karachi Whites beat Azad Jammu Kashmir by eight wickets.

AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 133 in 38.5 overs (Ehtesham Ali 35; Aarish Ali Khan 5-13, Mohammad Taha 3-29); KARACHI WHITES 136-2 in 16.2 overs (Sufyan Khan 53, Umair Yousuf 48 not out, Ram Ravi 21 not out).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Sialkot beat Islamabad by 73 runs.

SIALKOT 302-7 in 50 overs (Abdullah Shafiq 105, Momin Waqar 53, Mohsin Riaz 53, Aashir Mahmood 43, Usman Shafiq 23; Sardar Kham 3-53, Musa Khan 2-58); ISLAMABAD 229 in 46.1 overs (Mohammad Hammad 108, Abu Hurraira 47, Rohail Nazir 23; Usman Sajjad 4-48, Adnan Haider 3-27).

At National Ground, Islamabad: Dera Murad Jamali beat Hyderabad by nine wickets.

HYDERABAD 123 in 39.1 overs (Saud Jafri 41, Mohammad Suleman 24; Mohammad 3-21, Mohammad Shahid 2-14, Fahad Hussain 2-23); DERA MURAD JAMALI 128-1 in 15.4 overs (Usama Razzaq 55 not out, Shoaib Ahmed 53 not out).

Group ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Karachi Blues beat Multan by nine wickets.

MULTAN 207-8 in 50 overs (Ali Raza 50, Usama Bashir 38, Ahmed Jamal 30 not out, Usman Shafiq 27, Umar Khan 27; Ashar Qureshi 5-42); KARACHI BLUES 210 in 34.1 overs (Imran Shah 88 not out, Haider Ali 59 not out, Ashar Qureshi 48).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Lahore Blues beat Larkana by 137 runs.

LAHORE BLUES 319-3 in 50 overs (Zaid Alam 145, Uzair Nasir 116 not out, Ibtisam-ul-Haq 30); LARKANA 182 in 48.3 overs (Javed Ali Khoso 44, Ghulam Mohammad 35; Qasim Akram 3-15, Ahmer Jalil 2-24).

At TMC Ground, Karachi: Quetta beat Abbottabad by 52 runs.

QUETTA 198 in 50 overs (Israr Ahmed 52, Abdul Nasir 28, Rasheed Ahmed 26; Mansoor Ali 3-33, Hamza Khan 2-17, Aftab Afzal 2-29); ABBOTTABAD 146 in 41.1 overs (Mohammad Arif 35, Danish Sarhadi 20; Abdul Nasir 4-25, Hussain 4-34).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Fata beat Peshawar by 127 runs.

FATA 260-7 in 50 overs (Aftab Alam 58, Shahenshah Afridi 56 not out, Mohammad Ashfaq 42, Mohammad Umar 40 not out; Zaidullah 2-32); PESHAWAR 133 in 35.3 overs (Mohsin Khan 42; Inamullah 4-22, Shahenshah Afridi 2-23).

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2017