KARACHI: Shan Masood starred with an almost run-a-ball unbeaten century as United Bank Limited (UBL) strolled to an easy 64-run victory over Pakistan Television (PTV) in their opening fixture of the One-day Departmental Cup here on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Ahmed Shehzad led from the front with a sparkling undefeated 162 to help defending champions Habib Bank Limited (HBL) seal a five-wicket success against National Bank of Pakistan (NBP). Wapda defeated Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) by 73 runs while newly-crowned Quaid-i-Azam Trophy champions Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) emerged as the day’s biggest winners with a 112-run rout of Khan Research Laboratories (KRL).

With retired Pakistan legend Younis Khan back at the helm as the skipper, Shan expressed himself in the best possible way with a career-best 145 on a perfect UBL Sports Complex pitch to help UBL post 296-9 after PTV’s young skipper Saud Shakeel chose to field upfront.

But Saud was left to rue to his decision as Shan and fellow left-hander Umar Siddique shared an opening partnership of 150 from 167 deliveries. Umar perished after making an 89-ball 72 featuring nine fours and a six.

Umar Akmal lived a charmed life as he survived a few close calls during the second-wicket stand of 53, out of which the right-hander scored 32 off 31 balls, before being dismissed in the 37th over.

Younis then got himself run out without facing a ball in a terrible mix-up with Shan. But Shan remained unperturbed as he surpassed his previous best List A score of 136. The Kuwait-born Test opener’s 146-ball innings was laced with 15 fours and a six.

Leg-spinner Mohammad Irfan was the only PTV bowler to complete his full quota of 10 overs during which he grabbed 3-51.

Left-arm fast bowler Mir Hamza sent back openers Adnan Mahmood (8) and Taimur Khan (first ball) in a fiery opening spell to put PTV’s run chase in disarray. Ex-Pakistan batsman Hasan Raza was run out for 22 before left-handed Saud (53 off 60 balls, seven boundaries) was brilliantly held at short mid-wicket by Younis off Mohammad Asghar.

All-rounder Hasan Mohsin delayed the inevitable with 63 off 66 balls. He struck three fours and four sixes, one of them against off-spinner Ashiq Ali nearly broke the glass-pane of the match referee’s room.

Axed by national selectors for Pakistan’s ODI series in New Zealand, Shehzad responded superbly with his 14th one-day hundred while pushing HBL over the line after NBP had rode on Naved Yasin’s maiden ton (101 off 100 balls, seven fours and two sixes) to pile up 317-5 after being put into bat at the NBP Sports Complex.

NBP skipper Qaiser Abbas hit 91 (103 balls, seven fours and four sixes) while adding 157 for the fifth wicket with Naved.

But Shehzad made light work of the target by hitting nine fours and five sixes in his 142-ball 162 as and Ramiz Aziz (60 off 65, two four) put on 177 for the fourth wicket before HBL got home with nine balls to spare.

Khushdil Shah’s 86-ball 103 (eight sixes and four fours) guided Wapda to 272 all out in 50 overs after SSGC elected to field at the SBP Sports Complex before SSGC folded up for 199 in 46.4 overs.

Iftikhar Ahmed (68 off 44, eight fours), Hussain Talat (63 off 67, four fours and two sixes), Khurram Shehzad (52 off 47, four sixes and one six) and Asad Shafiq (50 off 63, seven fours) powered SNGPL to 321-4 at Hyderabad’s Niaz Stadium before KRL collected 209-8 in reply.

Results on Thursday:

First round:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: UBL beat PTV by 64 runs.

UBL 296-9 in 50 overs (Shan Masood 145 not out, Umar Siddique 72, Umar Akmal 32; Mohammad Irfan Jr 3-51, Ali Khan 2-37); PTV 232 in 46 overs (Hasan Mohsin 63, Saud Shakeel 52, Samiullah 30, Hasan Raza 22; Sohaib Maqsood 2-17, Mir Hamza 2-37, Mohammad Asghar 2-37).

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Wapda beat SSGC by 73 runs.

WAPDA 272 in 50 overs (Khushdil Shah 103, Kamran Akmal 45, Khalid Usman 32; Ahmed Jamal 3-41, Zia-ul-Haq 3-44, Kashif Bhatti 2-28); SSGC 199 in 46.4 overs (Sami Aslam 80, Saifullah Khan Bangash 31, Usama Mir 27, Fawad Alam 23; Mohammad Irfan 3-16, Zahid Mansoor 2-28).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: HBL beat NBP by five wickets.

NBP 317-7 in 50 overs (Naved Yasin 101, Qaiser Abbas 91, Haris Ali 33, Rameez Raja 29; Abdur Rehman 3-53, Mohammad Bilal 3-75); HBL 320-5 in 48.3 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 162 not out, Ramiz Aziz 60, Imran Farhat 30; Ghulam Mudassar 2-58).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: SNGPL beat KRL by 112 runs.

SNGPL 321-4 in 50 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 68 not out, Hussain Talat 63, Khurram Shehzad 52, Asad Shafiq 50, Taimur Sultan 43, Mohammad Rizwan 30 not out; Nauman Ali 2-39); KRL 209-8 in 50 overs (Junaid Ali 38, Luqman Butt 36, Hasan Raza Sardar 31, Saif Badar 28, Nauman Ali 21; Imran Khalid 4-39, Mohammad Abbas 2-16).

Saturday’s fixtures:

UBL vs HBL (UBL Sports Complex, Karachi); SNGPL vs Wapda (SBP Sports Complex, Karachi); NBP vs PTV (NBP Sports Complex, Karachi); SSGC vs KRL (Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad).

Published in Dawn, December 29th, 2017