KARACHI: Karachi Blues pulled off a dramatic victory by only five runs here on Saturday to displace Peshawar atop Group ‘A’ standings in the PCB Under-19 Inter-region National Cricket Championship.

Chasing 224, Peshawar resumed the last day of the third-round fixture well-placed at 126-1 and seemed all set to clinch the game by advancing to 213-3 with prodigiously-talented opener Mohsin Khan scoring exactly 100.

But the tricky state of the NBP Sports Complex pitch haunted the visitors who lost the remaining seven wickets for the addition of just five runs to be dismissed for 218 with the leg-spinning duo of Kahaf Patel (4-33 in 12 overs) and the in-form Ashar Qureshi (5-62 in 23.4 overs) causing the slide.

Earlier, the left-handed Mohsin continued his excellent form by completing his second century in the championship after beginning the day on 63. Mohsin perished when top-edged a sweep to square-leg off Ashar. His gallant 171-ball nock included 11 fours and one six.

It was a good day for the other Karachi outfit as the Whites side celebrated their first victory this season, defeating Dera Murad Jamali by five wickets in their Group ‘C’ match at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Aaqib Junaid missed out on a century by only four runs as Dera Murad Jamali totalled 276 all out after resuming at 92-0. Aaqib’s 96 off 227 balls included 16 boundaries, while the pace-spin duo of Mohammad Ali Khan and Arish Ali Khan repeated their act of the first innings by grabbing four wickets apiece.

With time running out, Karachi Whites raced to their target in 12.5 overs by making 98-5.

Group ‘C’ leaders Islamabad suffered their first defeat when Lahore Whites clinched a 47-run win at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad.

Paceman Hannan Zahid took 5-43 to send the hosts tumbling to 91 all out in pursuit of a relatively modest chase for 139 runs.

Scores and results on Saturday (final day of three):

Third round:

Group ‘A’:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Mach drawn.

FATA 240-9 in 83 overs (Mohammad Ishaq 71, Mohammad Khayyam 65, Abbas Afridi 43; Farhan Shafiq 4-80, Munir Riaz 3-53, Imran Khan 2-72) and 224 in 67.2 overs (Shahenshah Afridi 48, Aftab Alam 38, Afaq Ahmed 36; Munir Riaz 5-77, Shiraz Khan 2-57); RAWALPINDI 237-9 in 83 overs (Mohammad Ajmal 97, Wahidullah 75 not out; Umar Khan 3-58, Hamza Khan 2-34, Shahenshah Afridi 2-60) and 203-9 in 40 overs Zaid Khan 93, Mohammad Ajmal 44; Hamza Khan 5-49, Umar Khan 3-59).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Karachi Blues beat Peshawar by five runs.

KARACHI BLUES 162 in 64.2 overs (Obaisullah Khan 50 not out, Haider Ali 49; Azam Khan 6-38, Mohammad Ilyas 2-30) and 152 in 45.1 (Taha Mahmood 43; Mohammad Ilyas 4-35, Zeeshan Ahmed 3-33, Suleman Khan 2-10); PESHAWAR 91 in 26.5 overs (Waqar Ahmed 40; Kahaf Patel 4-15, Ali Umar 3-12, Ashar Qureshi 3-15) and 218 in 70.4 overs (Mohsin Khan 100; Ashar Qureshi 5-62, Kahaf Patel 4-33).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: Match drawn.

HYDERABAD 286-9 in 83 overs (Saad Khan 61, Haris Younis 48, Mohib Ali 44, Noman Khilji 38; Hammad Islam 3-66, Zohaib Bukhari 3-71, Usama Fazil 2-39) and 5-0 in 3 overs; AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 129 in 47.1 overs (Badar Mukhtar 26; Raza-ul-Hasan 5-53, Noman Akbar 2-18, Mohammad Hasnain 2-21) and 364 in 134.2 overs (Hammad Islam 130, Badar Mukhtar 54, Zohaib Bukhari 44, Shahid Ahmed 40; Saad Khan 6-92, Hasan Ali 2-74).

Group ‘B’:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: Abbottabad beat Faisalabad by 134 runs.

ABBOTTABAD 291 in 81.1 overs (Mohammad Arif 107, Umar Sadiq 65, Khayyam Khan 60; Salman Shafqat 4-94, Usama Javed 3-84) and 206-5 declared in 64 overs (Umar Sadiq 69 not out, Abrar Ahmed 51, Mohammad Arif 32; Salman Shafqat 3-72, Usama Javed 2-48); FAISALABAD 193 in 63.4 overs (Awais Zafar 61, Mohammad Irfan 44; Mansoor Ali 3-36, Hamza Khan 3-57, Mohammad Faisal 2-24, Abrar Ahmed 2-31) and 170 in 61.4 overs (Talha Umar 64, Mohammad Awais 36; Arshad Ahmed 4-51, Mansoor Ali 3-42, Mohammad Arif 2-5).

At Lahore Country Club, Muridke: Bahawalpur beat Larkana by six wickets.

LARKANA 133 in 49 overs (Ghulam Mohammad 30; Mohammad Junaid 4-34, Noor Khattak 4-39, Shayal Khalil 2-17) and 150 in 81.3 overs (Zubair Ahmed 22; Ali Imran 3-10, Mohammad Junaid 3-47, Noman Ahmed 2-36); BAHAWALPUR 149 in 65.5 overs (Ali-ul-Hasan 67, Abdul Hadi 31; Nadir Ali 7-59, Aamir Ali 2-40) and 135-4 in 60.5 overs (Abdul Hadi 38; Aamir Ali 2-48).

At Rana Naved-ul-Hasan Cricket Academy, Sheikhupura: Quetta beat Lahore Blues by four wickets.

LAHORE BLUES 156 in 58.4 overs (Mohammad Saleem 65, Uzair Nazir 39; Mohammad Asghar 5-34, Ehsanullah 2-31, Basit Aslam 2-39) and 180 in 58.3 overs (Ibtisam-ul-Haq 38, Qasim Akram 33; Mohammad Junaid 4-25, Abdul Nasir 2-26, Latifullah 2-41); QUETTA 107 in 45.2 overs (Israr Ahmed 57; Nasim Shah 7-27, Mohammad Suleman 2-45) and 232-6 in 82.4 overs (Abdul Wahid Bangash 109 not out, Israr Ahmed 63; Bilal Khan 3-48, Zaid Alam 2-55).

Group ‘C’:

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: Sialkot beat Multan by nine wickets.

MULTAN 93 in 23 overs (Mohammad Waqas 20; Adnan Haider 7-47, Abdullah Nawaz 3-26) and 171 in 77.1 overs (Mudassar Gilani 40; Usman Sajjad 4-48, Farrukh Waqas 3-32, Asad Ali 2-14); SIALKOT 179 in 66 overs (Ashir Bhatti 64; Mohammad Waqas 5-50, Mohammad Basit 2-9, Zaheer Islam 2-32) and 86-1 in 17 overs (Momin Waqar 37, Abdullah Shafiq 30).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Karachi Whites beat Dera Murad Jamali by five wickets.

KARACHI WHITES 425-9 in 83 overs (Syed Amin 105, Ram Ravi 92, Mohammad Usman 68, Haider Abbas 58, Umair Yousuf 43; Ahmer Aziz 4-87, Mohammad Shahid 2-52) and 98-5 in 12.5 overs (Umair Yousuf 32 not out; Zahid Ali 2-32, Mohammad Shahid 2-40); DERA MURAD JAMALI 244 in 80.1 overs (Shoaib Ahmed 79, Saeed Ahmed 77, Usama Razzaq 33; Mohammad Ali Khan 4-51, Arish Ali Khan 4-54) and 276 in 96.2 overs (Aaqib Junaid 96, Usama Razzaq 62, Saeed Ahmed 44; Mohammad Ali Khan 4-40, Arish Ali Khan 4-71).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Lahore Whites beat Islamabad by 47 runs.

LAHORE WHITES 115 in 37.1 overs (Fahad Munir 37; Zain-ul-Abedin 4-25, Haroon Wahid 2-10, Haris Hasan 2-11, Musa Khan 2-43) and 205 in 60 overs (Faisal Ali 56, Saad Ali Rafai 43, Ramis Mustafa 31; Musa Khan 4-46, Haroon Wahid 4-63); ISLAMABAD 182 in 73.5 overs (Rohail Nazir 60, Inayat Ali 40; Mohsin Ali 5-40, Danish Butt 3-29, Hannan Zahid 2-59) and 91 in 39.4 overs (Rohail Nazir 32; Hannan Zahid 5-43, Danish Butt 3-17, Mohsin Ali 2-25).

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2017