KARACHI: Inspired by centuries from Abdul Samad and Zain Abbas, Faisalabad coasted to a clinical 10-wicket rout of hosts Islamabad in their second-round fixture of the National One-day Regional Cup on Saturday.

Elsewhere Pakistan Test batsman Asad Shafiq struck a career-best 140 to lead Karachi Whites to a seven-wicket victory over Rawalpindi; holders Peshawar succumbed to an 81-run defeat against Lahore Blues while in a thrilling encounter Lahore Whites and Fata shared points after their game ended in a tie.

After restricting Islamabad to 247-8 after opting to bowl first at the Diamond Club Ground with paceman Mohammad Imran taking 4-41, Faisalabad stormed to their first win with 25 balls to spare. Samad hammered 130 off 143 balls with the aid of 10 fours and two sixes, while Zain struck nine boundaries in his 133-ball knock of 113.

Asad, meanwhile, blasted 14 fours and three sixes during his match-winning 110-ball innings and Akbar-ur-Rehman (114 off 141 balls, eight fours and one six) made light work of a 301-run chase by putting on 224 for the second wicket at the KRL Stadium.

Naved Malik scored 83 (102 balls, 11 fours) as Rawalpindi, put into bat, reached 300-7. Left-arm paceman Rahat Ali grabbed four wickets for 55 runs.

Sami Aslam’s 120 (126 balls, eight fours and three sixes) propelled Lahore Blues to 324 all out after Peshawar chose to field first at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

Peshawar, in reply, mustered 243-9 despite all-rounder Zohaib Khan scoring an unbeaten 71. Off-spinning all-rounder Agha Salman took 3-48.

At the National Ground, Fata were dismissed for 236 after being asked to bat first with slow left-armer Mohammad Irfan claiming 4-35.

Fata then fought back gallantly to curtail Lahore Whites to 236-9 with Irfan excelling with the bat as well to top score with 63.

Khushdil Shah’s left-arm spin fetched the all-rounder four wickets for 39 runs.

Saturday’s results:

Second round:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Lahore Blues beat Peshawar by 81 runs.

LAHORE BLUES 324 in 50 overs (Sami Aslam 120, Raza Ali Dar 40 not out, Kamran Akmal 34, Bilawal Iqbal 28 not out, Saad Nasim 27, Agha Salman 21, Mohammad Saad 20, Umar Akmal 20; Azizullah 2-61, Zohaib Khan 2-69); PESHAWAR 243-9 in 50 overs (Zohaib Khan 71 not out, Israrullah 45, Mohammad Rizwan 35, Ashfaq Ahmed 21; Agha Salman 3-48, Aizaz Cheema 2-19, Raza Ali Dar 2-42).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: Karachi Whites beat Rawalpindi by seven wickets.

RAWALPINDI 300-7 in 50 overs (Naved Malik 83, Iftikhar Ahmed 61, Saud Shakeel 54, Azhar Ali 47, Sohail Tanvir 24; Rahat Ali 4-55); KARACHI WHITES 301-3 in 48.5 overs (Asad Shafiq 140, Akbar-ur-Rehman 114, Fawad Alam 34 not out).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Faisalabad beat Islamabad by 10 wickets.

ISLAMABAD 247-8 in 50 overs (Faizan Riaz 68, Abid Ali 54, Shahid Yousuf 49, Shan Masood 34; Mohammad Imran 4-41, Ahmed Safi 2-44); FAISALABAD 248-0 in 45.5 overs (Abdul Samad 130 not out, Zain Abbas 112 not out).

At National Ground, Islamabad: Lahore Whites vs Fats — match tied.

FATA 236 in 47.1 overs (Sohail Akhtar 44, Hammad Azam 32, Mohammad Irfan 32, Khushdil Shah 30, Asif Afridi 26, Ramiz Aziz 21, Fawad Alam 20; Mohammad Irfan 4-35, Waqas Ahmed 3-29); LAHORE WHITES 236-9 in 50 overs (Mohammad Irfan 63, Rizwan Hussain 39, Mohammad Mohsin 29, Adnan Akmal 24; Khushdil Shah 4-39, Asif Afridi 3-41).

Monday’s fixtures: Faisalabad vs Fata (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Rawalpindi vs Lahore Blues (KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi); Islamabad vs Lahore Whites (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); Karachi Whites vs Peshawar (National Ground, Islamabad).

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2018