KARACHI: It took an unusual dismissal to seal Peshawar’s sensational three-run victory

over defending champions Wapda in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship fixture in Abbottabad on Tuesday.

Mohammad Irfan, Wapda’s last man, was adjudged being ‘mankaded’ by Taj Wali when the gangling Pakistan paceman had moved out at the non-striker’s end just as the Peshawar seamer ran up to deliver the last ball of his 26th over in the Group ‘A’ tie at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.

The Wapda camp expressed its anguish at the decision from umpires Ahmed Shahab and Faisal Afridi to declare Irfan out.

“How can this be termed a fair dismissal when such a thing happens when you are so close to winning!” a Wapda player, who chose to remain anonymous, wondered while talking to Dawn. “From our point of view, it was an unfair act on the part of the bowler to run out Irfan without prior warning.”

But under the revised 41.16 (previously 42.15) law of MCC’s new playing conditions which became operational this year, Irfan’s bizarre run out was legitimate.

“The bowler is permitted, before releasing the ball and provided he has not completed his usual delivery stride, to attempt to run out the non-striker. Whether the attempt is successful or not, the ball shall not count as one of the over. If the bowler fails in an attempt to run out the non-striker, the umpire shall call and signal dead ball as soon as possible,” according to the ruling.

The departure of Irfan not only ended the game but also left Mohammad Saad stranded on 111 not out (off 247 balls, 11 boundaries) as Wapda were all out for 242 after resuming day four at 228-8.

Wapda’s first loss in four outings means they stay third behind SSGC and SNGPL with 24 points, while Peshawar’s second win lifted them into fourth place.

The overnight pair of former Pakistan player Yasir Hameed and captain Fawad Khan both scored centuries while sharing a 191-run partnership as Fata drew against Pakistan Television (PTV) who claimed three points at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.

Fata finally closed their second innings at 449-8 after Yasir had made 157 off 263 balls and Fawad 121 off 140 balls, with both men striking 13 fours apiece.

Leg-spinner Mohammad Irfan captured five wickets for 136 runs in 27 overs.

PTV then slipped to 92-4 in the remaining available time.

The National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) also settled for three points after Islamabad were all out for 416 in response to the bankers’ 553-8 declared in their drawn fixture at the Diamond Club Ground.

Opener Abid Ali stole the show by carrying his bat through the innings to end up a career-best contribution of 231 in a marathon stay of 709 minutes after starting the day on 160.

Abid’s 484-ball knock was laced with 21 fours and one six.

Paceman Altaf Ahmed picked up six wickets for 80 runs in 30.3 overs. When play ended for the last time, NBP had moved to 85-2 in the second innings.

Lahore Whites also bagged three points after drawing with Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

KRL, who were 68-2 at stumps on Tuesday, managed 283 all out in their second innings with slow left-armer Mohammad Irfan taking 6-99 from 37.3 overs.

The fifth round of matches starts from Saturday.

Scores and results on Wednesday (final day of four):

Fourth round:

Group ‘A’:

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad:

Match drawn.

NBP 553-8 declared in 146.1 overs (Kamran Ghulam 102, Bilal Asif 102, Faizan Khan 100, Haris Ali Khan 60, Rameez Raja 46, Naved Sarwar 44, Raza Hasan 28; Faizan Riaz 2-90, Hamza Nadeem 2-102, Munir-ur-Rehman Tanzil 2-138) and 85-2 in 26 overs (Ali Asad 37 not out, Naved Sarwar 33 not out; ISLAMABAD 416 in 121.3 overs (Abid Ali 231 not out, Shehzad Azam Rana 41, Sarmad Bhatti 40, Mohammad Naqqash 30, Faizan Riaz 28, Munir-ul-Rehman Tanzil 22; Altaf Ahmed 6-80, Hazrat Shah 3-74).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: Peshawar beat Wapda by three runs.

PESHAWAR 235 in 56 overs (Gohar Ali 76, Ashfaq Ahmed 64, Sahibzada Farhan 48; Mohammad Ali Bhutta 4-69, Mohammad Asif 3-50, Zulfiqar Babar 2-55) and 164 in 56.5 overs (Ubaidullah 68, Israrullah 35, Akbar Badshah 34; Mohammad Asif 5-40, Mohammad Irfan 2-35); WAPDA 154 in 57.2 overs (Kamran Akmal 55, Mansoor Amjad 40; Taj Wali 6-53, Nasir Awais 2-27, M. Imran Khan 2-44) and 242 in 75.5 overs (Mohammad Saad 111 not out, Zulfiqar Babar 32, Kamran Akmal 25, Khushdil Shah 24; M. Imran Khan 3-48, Taj Wali 3-81, Nasir Awais 2-31).

Group ‘B’:

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Match drawn.

KRL 322 in 110.3 overs (Usman Arshad 77, Sardar Hasan Raza 63, Jaahid Ali 47, Nauman Ali 33; Umar Farooq 4-50, Waqas Ahmed 2-68, Mohammad Irfan 2-87) and 283 in 97.3 overs (Saeed Anwar Jr 79, Usman Arshad 55, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 53, Jaahid Ali 33; Mohammad Irfan 6-99, Waqas Ahmed 2-44, Umaid Asif 2-55); LAHORE WHITES 330 in 112 overs (Rizwan Hussain 50, Fahad-ul-Haq 48, Mohammad Irfan 48, Usman Salahuddin 39, Mohammad Mohsin 37, Ameer Hamza 30, Anas Mahmood 27; Sadaf Hussain 7-85).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: Match drawn.

FATA 281 in 86 overs (Asif Ali 102, Sohail Akhtar 41, Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti 40, Mukhtar Ahmed 39; Tabish Khan 3-67, Hasan Mohsin 2-42, Rizwan Akbar 2-66) and 449-8 declared in 107 overs (Yasir Hameed 157, Fawad Khan 121, Sohail Akhtar 66, Mohammad Naeem 32; Mohammad Irfan 5-136); PTV 400 in 130.3 overs (Saud Shakeel 108, Hasan Mohsin 83, Mohammad Irfan 81, Faisal Khan 27; Asif Afridi 4-116, Sohail Akhtar 3-84, Asif Ali 2-54) and 92-4 in 23 overs (Taimur Khan 44; Asif Afridi 3-18).

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2017