KARACHI: Pakistan’s pace duo of Usman Khan Shinwari and Junaid Khan hurried Habib Bank Limited (HBL) to a two-day rout of Rawalpindi in their Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship encounter in the garrison city on Wednesday.

The left-armers combined to claim eight wickets as Rawalpindi were bowled out inside 31 overs for 130 to suffer an innings and 65-run drubbing in the Group ‘B’ fixture at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

By virtue of second straight victory, HBL go top of the pool standings with 19 points after taking 10 from the latest win.

Usman picked up five for 46 in 7.3 overs while Junaid followed up his 5-32 in the first innings on Tuesday’s opening day with figures of 3-50 in nine overs.

Skipper Umar Waheed was the only Rawalpindi batsman to offer resistance with a 68-ball 51, laced with seven fours and one six.

Earlier, HBL added 127 to their overnight tally of 170-3 before declaring their first innings at 297-8. The left-handed pair of Imran Farhat (94 off 164 balls, 10 boundaries) and Ramiz Aziz (63 off 134, eight fours) extended their overnight fourth-wicket partnership of 90 to 138.

Left-arm seamer Nazar Hussain finished with five wickets for 48 runs in 21 overs.

Holders Wapda and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) both braced themselves for a tough day three on Thursday after being outplayed by their respective opponents on the second day.

Hosts Faisalabad dominated Wapda at the Iqbal Stadium. After converting an overnight total from 68-5 to 170 all out, Faisalabad not only secured a handy 28-run lead on the first innings but also reduced Wapda to 140-5 in the second innings.

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt staged a one-man fight for the champions. The skipper cored 56 before falling to Test reject Mohammad Talha.

Earlier, out-of-favour Test slow left-armer Zulfiqar Babar added three more wickets to his tally before finishing with seven for 41 in 26 overs after Ali Shan (51) and Faisalabad captain Saeed Ajmal (21) put on 52 priceless runs for the seventh wicket.

In the other Group ‘A’ tie at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi, NBP were in total despair after being forced to follow on by Lahore Blues.

Replying to the regional outfit’s formidable total of 359, NBP capitulated for only 154 in 47 overs with ex-Pakistan all-rounder Saad Nasim leading from the front with a career-best haul of 6-30 in 13 overs of leg-spin and paceman Bilawal Iqbal taking 4-28 in 11 overs.

The bankers then nosedived to 65-4 in their second turn.

Bilawal had earlier ensured his side collected a substantial total after Lahore Blues resumed the day at 296-8. He contributed a 146-ball 59.

Pakistan Television (PTV) recovered from 83-5 to earn a first-innings lead of 14 runs by posting 195 against Karachi Whites in their Group ‘B’ match at the NBP Sports Complex.

Karachi Whites were 126-4 in their second innings when play ended for the day.

UBL rode on opener Umar Siddique’s 10th first-class century — 115 from 188 balls with 14 boundaries — to reach a commanding 239-3 after dismissing Lahore Whites for 289 at the LCCA Ground in Lahore.

Saad Ali helped fellow left-hander Umar add 131 for the third wicket.

Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) earned a one-run advantage against Fata by making 238 after starting Wednesday’s action at 29-2. Opener Jaahid Ali was run out for 80.

Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), meanwhile, experienced mixed fortunes in their Group ‘A’ matches.

SSGC decided against enforcing the follow on after Peshawar mustered 192 all out to fall behind by 156 runs on the first innings at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.

Batting again, SSGC then cruised to 95-0 to enjoy an overall lead of 251 runs.

SNGPL will be relying heavily on Iftikhar Ahmed to bail them out after collecting 265-8 in response to Islamabad’s 315 at the Diamond Club Ground.

Iftikhar, who seems to be a forgotten man for the national selectors after his Test debut at The Oval in August 2016, held the innings together with 98 (196 balls, nine fours) against his name.

Close of play scores and result on Wednesday (day two of four):

Second-round:

Group ‘A’:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: WAPDA 142 in 58.3 overs (Mohammad Saad 32, Khushdil Shah 26; Atif Jabbar 3-23, Naseer Akram 3-48, Saeed Ajmal 2-20) and 140-5 in 41.5 overs (Salman Butt 56, Khushdil Shah 32; Naseer Akram 27); FAISALABAD 170 in 71 overs (Ali Shan 51, Iftikhar Ahmed 25, Saeed Ajmal 21; Zulfiqar Babar 7-41).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: LAHORE BLUES 359 in 106.2 overs (Raza Ali Dar 87, Bilawal Iqbal 59, Saad Nasim 58, Waqas Saleem 42; Raza Hasan 4-109, Mushtaq Ahmed 2-67, Saif Ali Khan 2-69, Hazrat Shah 2-76); NBP 154 in 47 overs (Rameez Raja 36, Qaiser Abbas 28, Ahsan Ali 26; Saad Nasim 6-30, Bilawal Iqbal 4-28) and 65-4 in 22 overs (Naved Yasin 28; Bilawal Iqbal 2-14).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ISLAMABAD 315 in 89 overs (Faizan Riaz 79, Shahid Yousuf 55, Mohammad Naqqash 42 not out, Abid Ali 37, Ali Sarfraz 30; Mohammad Hafeez 4-62, Samiullah Khan Niazi 3-81, Shadab Khan 2-43); SNGPL 265-8 in 82 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 98 not out, Mohammad Hafeez 37; Ali Imran Pasha 3-80, Hamza Nadeem 2-83).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: SSGC 348 in 83.4 overs (Aamir Yamin 99, Kashif Bhatti 63, Adil Amin 48, Umar Amin 30, Mohammad Irfan 26; Taj Wali 3-92, Israrullah 2-30) and 95-0 in 22 overs (Umar Amin 57 not out, Zain Abbas 36 not out); PESHAWAR 192 in 69.2 overs (Ashfaq Ahmed 61, Nasir Awais 32; Aamir Yamin 3-33, Usama Mir 2-21, Mohammad Irfan 2-22).

Group ‘B’:

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: KARACHI WHITES 181 in 51.1 overs (Mohammad Hasan 88, Mohammad Hassaan Khan 32, Mohammad Waqas 27; Zohaib Shera 5-59, Hasan Mohsin 2-53) and 126-4 in 38.2 overs (Faraz Ali 30 not out; Zohaib Shera 2-29); PTV 195 in 76.5 overs (Mohammad Irfan Jr 45, Hasan Raza 37, Mohammad Yasin 33, Hasan Mohsin 29 not out; Adeel Malik 3-49, Anwar Ali 2-44).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE WHITES 289 in 109.5 overs (Rizwan Hussain 67, Fahad-ul-Haq 60, Anas Mahmood 52, Ameer Hamza 45; Sohail Khan 4-50, Sameen Gul 3-63, Rumman Raees Khan 2-55); UBL 239-3 in 62 overs (Umar Siddique 115, Saad Ali 74 not out, Umair Khan 25).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: FATA 237 in 70.4 overs (Asif Afridi 64, Sohail Akhtar 61, Asad Afridi 33, Mohammad Naeem 25; Yasir Ali 4-48, Ahmed Bashir 4-59, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-55) and 52-1 in 13 overs (Mukhtar Ahmed 40); KRL 238 in 85.1 overs (Jaahid Ali 80, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 46, Saeed Anwar Jr 46, Junaid Ali 32; Hafeez-ur-Rehman 3-54, Asif Afridi 3-59, Sajjad Hussain 2-56).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: HBL beat Rawalpindi by an innings and 65 runs.

RAWALPINDI 102 in 34.2 overs (Haseeb Azam 24; Junaid Khan 5-32, Fahim Ashraf 3-22) and 130 in 30.3 overs (Umar Waheed 51; Usman Khan Shinwari 5-46, Junaid Khan 3-50); HBL 297-8 declared in 74 overs (Imran Farhat 94, Ramiz Aziz 63, Ahmed Shehzad 49, Fahim Ashraf 37; Nazar Hussain 5-48, Saad Altaf 2-102).

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2017