KARACHI: Karachi Blues and Multan both emerged victorious in their respective semi-finals on Monday to qualify for the final of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-II cricket tournament.

Karachi Blues eased to a crushing 10-wicket defeat of Abbottabad here at the National Stadium, while Multan beat Hyderabad by seven wickets in the other semi-final at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Abbottabad added another 76 to their overnight second-innings tally of 87-4 before being dismissed for 163 to leave the home side just 32 for an outright win.

Mohammad Hasnain was the solitary visiting batsman to offer fight with a defiant undefeated contribution of 47 in 163 minutes. His 113-ball innings was adorned with four boundaries.

All-rounder Kamran Ghulam, who resumed at 26, was run out for 36, while Nasir Khan made 20. Abbottabad skipper Junaid Khan, the Pakistan left-arm paceman, had the mortification of bagging a ‘pair’.

Slow left-armer Mohammad Asghar replicated his four-for in the first innings with four for 46 to in 21.3 overs end up with match haul of 8-110.

Amad Alam (20) and Saifullah Khan Bangash (12) knocked off the required runs in 6.5 overs to catapult Karachi Blues into the May 8-11 title-deciding fixture at venue to be announced later by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s domestic committee.

Meanwhile, Multan lost two more wickets in reaching their target of 173-3 after having started the final of the three-day clash against Hyderabad at 78-1.

Imran Rafiq, who was batting on 20 at stumps on Sunday, hit up 54 with his 73-ball knock laced with nine boundaries while Waqar Hussain added eight more runs to his overnight score of 30.

It was then left to Pakistan discard Sohaib Maqsood to provide the finishing touches with a 33-ball 30 (three fours and one six) as and Abdul Rehman Muzammil (19) put on 45 for the unbroken fourth-wicket partnership.

Scores and results on Monday (final day of three):

Semi-finals:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Karachi Blues beat Abbottabad by 10 wickets.

ABBOTTABAD 169 in 64.3 overs (Imran Shah 47, Kamran Ghulam 37, Farhan Hussain 32; Mohammad Asghar 4-64, Mohammad Umar 2-27, Ashiq Ali 2-28) and 163 in 57.3 overs (Mohammad Hasnain 47 not out, Kamran Ghulam 36, Farhan Hussain 22; Mohammad Asghar 4-46, Tariq Haroon 2-38); KARACHI BLUES 301-4 in 83 overs (Saud Shakeel 106, Rameez Raja 80, Tariq Haroon 35, Saifullah Khan Bangash 30, Fawad Alam 26 not out; Faizan Elahi 2-64) and 32-0 in 6.5 overs (Amad Alam 20 not out).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: Multan beat Hyderabad by seven wickets.

HYDERABAD 117 in 48.1 overs (Shoaib Leghari 38, Saad Khan 27, Babar Khan 19; Aamir Yamin 3-10, Ahsan Baig 3-22, Zulfiqar Babar 2-49) and 172 in 50.2 overs (Lal Kumar 36, Shoaib Leghari 36, Saad Khan 29, Nauman Ali 22, Mohammad Suleman 21; Aamir Yamin 5-38, Ahsan Baig 2-61); MULTAN 117 in 37 overs (Zain Abbas 54 not out, Zulfiqar Babar 18, Zia-ul-Haq 18; Nauman Akbar 6-56, Babar Khan 3-38) and 173-3 in 49.4 overs (Imran Rafiq 54, Waqar Hussain 38, Sohaib Maqsood 30 not out, Zain Abbas 27; Nauman Ali 2-22).

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2018