KARACHI: Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Karachi Whites all moved into the knockout round of the National One-day Regional Cup on Sunday after coasting to comfortable victories in their penultimate-round fixtures.

Peshawar retained their top spot by virtue of completing a seven-wicket win against Lahore Whites; Rawalpindi also emerged victorious rather easily by six wickets against Faisalabad while Karachi Whites decimated Islamabad by 86 runs.

In the day’s remaining game, Lahore Blues semi-final aspirations were dented when bottom-placed Fata finally celebrated their first success with a 35-run result in their favour, leaving currently fourth-placed Lahore side battling out for the available last-four spot along with Lahore Whites, Islamabad and Faisalabad with Fata already out of the race.

Ahmed Shehzad played a captain’s hand as the Pakistan right-hander brought up his 16th List A century by making a rapid 104 from 96 deliveries with the aid of 12 boundaries after his Peshawar counterpart Mohammad Rizwan opted to bowl first at the Arbab Niaz Stadium.

Shehzad, batting at No. 3, added 128 for the second wicket with Rizwan Hussain (78 off 77 balls, seven fours and two sixes) before putting on a further 77 for the third wicket Usman Salahuddin, who finished unbeaten with 60 (76 balls, two sixes) as Lahore Whites collected 281-9.

Peshawar, however, got to their target with 22 balls to spare as the prodigiously-talented Sahibzada Farhan underlined his potential with a career-best innings of 119. The 21-year-old right-hander struck eight boundaries and hoisted three sixes during his run-a-ball contribution.

Farhan played second fiddle to Israrullah (56 off 66, 10 fours) in their 90-run opening partnership. He then put on 82 for the next wicket with Ashfaq Ahmed (43) before Rizwan (unbeaten 64 off 55, 12 boundaries) joined him to share a partnership of 103.

Pakistan duo of Khurram Manzoor and captain Asad Shafiq put the Islamabad bowling to sword with their highest one-day individual scores as Karachi Whites made a complete mockery of Islamabad’s decision to bowl by amassing 384-5 at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Khurram, who seems to have lost the faith the of the Inzamam-ul-Haq’s national selection committee, bludgeoned his 19th ton as the 31-year-old right-handed opening batsman hit 187 with his 155-ball innings containing 22 boundaries and three sixes, while topping his career average above 50 during this effort.

Asad bettered his personal score for the second time in the tournament, surpassing 140 the diminutive right-hander made against Rawalpindi on Jan 27 by reaching 145 — the 32-year-old’s ninth ton in the format — while outscoring Khurram in their massive first-wicket stand of 268 inside the opening 39 overs of the match. Asad’s blazing 116-ball knock was embellished with 21 fours and one six.

Khurram, meanwhile, was not finished yet as he and Akbar-ur-Rehman combined to punish the Islamabad bowlers further in a second-wicket partnership of 105.

The shell-shocked Islamabad side was heading for a huge defeat when the sixth wicket fell at 144 in the 31st over. But Nauman Ali (74 off 45, six fours and five sixes) and Shehzad Azam Rana (an undefeated 87 off 74, nine fours and four sixes) both posted their highest scores by adding 91.

After restricting Faisalabad to 228-9 upon bowling first at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital, Rawalpindi went past that total with more than seven fours left unused with Mohammad Hafeez striking 11 boundaries in a 64-ball 66.

Faisalabad would have folded up for a low score after slumping to 68-5 in the 22nd over but new find Raees Ahmed (65 off 72, five fours and one six) and Pakistan all-rounder Fahim Ashraf (54 off 78, seven boundaries took them to some respectability by adding 112 for the sixth wicket.

Fata collected 266-9 after being asked to bat first by Lahore Blues skipper Umar Akmal before dismissing the opposition for 231 in the 49th over of the chase at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Sunday’s results:

Sixth round:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Karachi Whites beat Islamabad by 86 runs.

KARACHI WHITES 384-5 in 50 over (Khurram Manzoor 187, Asad Shafiq 145, Akbar-ur-Rehman 35; Shehzad Azam Rana 3-85); ISLAMABAD 298-7 in 50 overs (Shehzad Azam Rana 87 not out, Nauman Ali 74, Abid Ali 60, Fahad Iqbal 29; Mohammad Sami 2-42, Danish Aziz 2-54).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: Fata beat Lahore Blues by 35 runs.

FATA 266-9 in 50 overs (Nisar Afridi 62, Sohail Akhtar 52, Khushdil hah 45, Samiullah Jr 33, Mukhtar Ahmed 26; Bilawal Iqbal 4-34, Agha Salman 2-36, Aizaz Cheema 2-79); LAHORE BLUES 231 in 48.4 overs (Mohammad Saad 67, Bilawal Iqbal 40, Waqas Saleem 34, Agha Salman 20; Mir Hamza 3-55, Mukhtar Ahmed 3-61, Khushdil Shah 2-38).

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

FAISALABAD 228-9 in 50 overs (Raees Ahmed 65, Fahim Ashraf 54, Abdul Samad 35, Ali Shan 31 not out; Yasir Ali 4-69, Saad Altaf 2-47); RAWALPINDI 229-4 in 42.4 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 64, Iftikhar Ahmed 56 not out, Umar Amin 44, Saud Shakeel 33; Asad Raza 2-47).

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: Peshawar beat Lahore Whites by seven wickets.

LAHORE WHITES 281-9 in 50 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 104, Rizwan Hussain 78, Usman Salahuddin 60 not out; Taj Wali 3-64, Adil Amin 2-33); PESHAWAR 285-3 in 46.2 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 119, Mohammad Rizwan 64 not out, Israrullah 56, Ashfaq Ahmed 43; Ali Shafiq 2-40).

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

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2018