KARACHI: Quetta, quite unexpectedly, have taken early honours in the PCB Inter-region U-19 One-day Cup on Friday when they churned out their second successive victory with a five-wicket defeat of Rawalpindi.

Islamabad, Faisalabad and Peshawar also tasted success for the second round running but Lahore Whites were left still searching for their first win in the competition as the low-rated Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) defeated them by three wickets.

All-rounder Junaid Khan was once again Quetta’s architect as he followed up a fine all-round performance — 63 and five wickets — against Lahore Whites on Wednesday by taking two wickets and then top-scoring with 42 to help Quetta chased down Rawalpindi’s modest 153 in the Group ‘A’ fixture at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

Skipper Zohaib Bukhari slammed 88 from 116 balls (11 boundaries) while inspiring AJK home against Lahore Whites at the Marghazar Ground in the federal capital after Mohammad Arsalan had contributed an unbeaten 77 off 68 balls (seven fours and four sixes) in Lahore’s total of 213-7.

Islamabad struggled before completing a nervy two-wicket win at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi where Dera Murad Jamali totalled 164 all out.

Faisalabad did well to bowl out Karachi Whites for 155 at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad before knocking off the required runs in just 27 overs.

Peshawar are the dominant regional outfit in Group ‘B’ as they trounce Larkana by 140 runs at the NBP Sports Complex here in Karachi.

Despite Larkana seamer Javed Ali Khoso grabbing six wickets for 53 runs, Peshawar posted 231 all out in their 50 overs.

Larkana, in reply, were shot out for 91 in 30.4 overs.

Karachi Blues, who lost to Abbottabad on Wednesday, staged a brilliant comeback after being reduced to 55-6 by Sialkot at the UBL Sports Complex. Captain Obaisullah Khan (64 off 100 balls, three fours) and Ghazi Nasir (58 off 111, three boundaries) added 141 to lift the home side to 228 all out in 50 overs.

Sialkot’s response to the 229-run target ended rather meekly when they were bundled out for 67 in 32 overs after paceman Ghazi had taken three wickets upfront, the spin duo of off-spinner Saif Ali (4-7 in six overs) and slow left-armer Nadir Shah, who returned astounding analysis of 10-7-5-3, took over to torment the visitors.

Lahore Blues also bounced back their first-round to Peshawar by completing a six-wicket victory against Multan at the National Stadium, while Bahawalpur beat Hyderabad by 53 runs at the TMC Ground.

Friday’s results:

Second round:

Group ‘A’:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Quetta beat Rawalpindi by five wickets.

RAWALPINDI 153 in 39 overs (Suleman Khushi 33; Akhtar Shah 3-29, Jahangir Khan 2-27, Junaid Khan 2-34); QUETTA 154-5 in 48.1 overs (Junaid Khan 42, Mohammad Ibrahim 36, Abdul Wahid Sr 29, Hidayatullah 22 not out).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: Islamabad beat Dera Murad Jamali by two wickets.

DERA MURAD JAMALI 164 in 47.1 overs (Mohammad Shahid 51, Shoaib Ahmed 27; Zain-ul-Abedin 3-47, Mohammad Sarim Ashfaq 2-21, Mohammad Musa 2-23); ISLAMABAD 165-8 in 45.1 overs (Zahid Iqbal 40 not out, Azan Tariq 28, Irfan Khan 21; Saeed Ahmed Jr 4-21, Mohammad Shahid 2-13).

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

KARACHI WHITES 155 in 47.5 overs (Sohaib Ahmed 36, Mohammad Taha 22; Mohammad Bilal Javed 3-15, Saif Ali 2-26, Yousuf Khan 2-33); FAISALABAD 156-4 in 27 overs (Saif Ali 50, Zohaib Amanat 41, Mohammad Awais Zafar 20; Maaz Bin Salman 3-47).

At Marghazar Ground, Islamabad: Azad Jammu Kashmir beat Lahore Whites by three wickets.

LAHORE WHITES 213-7 in 50 overs (Mohammad Arsalan 77 not out, Hasan Dar 33, Hashim Ibrahim 28, Irfan Abid 20; Najam Naseer 2-25, Moin Pervez 2-33); AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 214-7 in 47.2 overs (Zohaib Bukhari 88, Hamza Ilyas 43 not out, Ehtesham Ali 31, Qazi Arbqan 24; Adil Sarwar 4-32, Syed Faridoun Mahmood 2-41).

Group ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Lahore Blues beat Multan by six wickets.

MULTAN 127 in 40.5 overs (Mohammad Basit 40, Asjar Ashfaq 26, Azhar Aslam 20; Nasim Shah 4-33, Mohammad Bilal Khan 3-13); LAHORE BLUES 128-4 in 30.4 overs (Uzair Nasir 32, Attyab Ahmed 27 not out, Syed Taqi Bilgrami 26, Qasim Akram 20; Mohammad Jahangir 2-33).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Karachi Blues beat Sialkot by 161 runs.

KARACHI BLUES 228 in 50 overs (Obaisullah Khan 64, Ghazi Nasir 58; Adnan Haider 3-22, Nasim Akram 2-39, Abdullah Nawaz 2-53); SIALKOT 67 in 32 overs (Saif Ali 4-7, Nadir Shah 3-5, Ghazi Nasir 3-17).

At TMC Ground, Karachi: Bahawalpur beat Hyderabad by 53 runs.

BAHAWALPUR 182 in 48.3 overs (Abdul Hadi 45, Mohammad Junaid 32, Naved Ahmed 28; Saad Khan 3-42, Hasan Ali 2-27, Raza-ul-Hasan 2-44); HYDERABAD 129 in 44.3 overs (Rafay Siddique 37, Mohammad Faisal 34; Mohammad Junaid 2-11, Mohammad Muzammil Khan 2-31, Mohammad Khaqan Bashir 2-32).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Peshawar beat Lahore Blues by 140 runs.

PESHAWAR 231 in 50 overs (Saqib Iqbal 55, Aamir Azmat 47, Mohammad Haris 44; Javed Ali Khoso 6-53); LAHORE BLUES 91 in 30.4 overs (Mohammad Aamir 2-14, Izhar Ahmed 2-18, Niaz Khan 2-29).

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2018