KARACHI: Multan finally had something to smile about when they celebrated their victory in the PCB Inter-region Under-19 One-day Cup on Thursday, defeating Abbottabad by five wickets here at the National Stadium.

Coming into this Group B’ fixture on the back of four consecutive losses upfront, Multan had to overcome a jittery start to the chase for 208 before an unbroken partnership of 127 between Ali Hasnain (70 off 93 balls, eight fours and two sixes) and Mohammad Asif (76 off 77, 12 boundaries) saw them over the line.

Karachi Blues joined Peshawar — who were not in action in the fifth round of matches — by sealing a 13-run victory over Hyderabad at the UBL Sports Complex.

Hyderabad, chasing 237, were dismissed for 223 with skipper Saad Khan hitting up an 87-ball 88 that included seven fours and three sixes.

Sialkot kept their semi-final aspirations alive when they chalked up a 39-run win against Larkana at the TMC Ground, while Lahore Blues also recorded their third success as they eased past Bahawalpur by five wickets.

In Group ‘A’ action, Faisalabad took advantage of Quetta’s absence on Thursday to go top of that pool standings after completing a 26-run win over Rawalpindi at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi. It was Rawalpindi’s third loss in four matches, while Faisalabad maintained a clean sheet after four straight victories.

Karachi Whites, riding on an opening stand of 146 between Saim Ayub (72 off 80, five fours and one six) and Jahanzeb Sultan (59 off 67, five fours and one six), totalled only 215 all out against Dera Murad Jamali at the National Ground in Islamabad.

But Dera Murad Jamali failed to get going in the run chase as they mustered 94 all out in 35.3 overs to lose by 121 runs.

An unbeaten knock of 105 (118 balls, seven fours and one six) from skipper Rohail Nazir guided Islamabad to an emphatic seven wicket win over Lahore Whites at the Diamond Club Ground. It was Lahore team’s fourth defeat in five fixtures.

In the day’s other Group ‘A’ tie, Fata beat Azad Jammu Kashmir by three wickets at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Thursday’s results:

Fifth round:

Group ‘A:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Faisalabad beat Rawalpindi by 26 runs.

FAISALABAD 197-8 in 42 overs (Danish Rasheed 75, Ahmed Butt 35, Suleman Shafqat 25; Shiraz Khan 4-42, Munir Riaz 3-33); RAWALPINDI 171 in 39.4 overs (Haider Ali 83; Mohammad Bilal Javed 4-31, Suleman Shafqat 3-30).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: Fata beat Azad Jammu Kashmir by three wickets.

AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 159 in 49 overs (Awais Akram 46, Shahid Ahmed 33; Abbas Afridi 3-29, Hasnain Hussain 3-35); FATA 160-7 in 37 overs (Farhan Sheikh 43, Aftab Alam 25, Nasir Faraz 24; Najam Naseer 2-29, Hamza Ilyas 2-39).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Islamabad beat Lahore Whites by seven wickets.

LAHORE WHITES 248 in 47.4 overs (Ahmed Butt 55, Hafiz Hamza Sani 39, Shafay Malik 37, Mohammad Arsalan 32; Zain-ul-Abedin 4-39, Haroon Wahid 3-33); ISLAMABAD 252-3 in 43.2 overs (Rohail Nazir 105 not out, Azan Tariq 56, Sarim Ashfaq 42 not out, Hasan Abid Kiani 26).

At National Ground, Islamabad: Karachi Whites beat Dera Murad Jamali by 121 runs.

KARACHI WHITES 215 in 48 overs (Saim Ayub 72, Jahanzeb Sultan 59; Shahab Bahar 3-16, Fahad Hussain 3-29, Mohammad 2-40); DERA MURAD JAMALI 94 in 35.3 overs (Mohammad Shahid 36; Mohammad Taha 3-10, Sohaib Ahmed 2-7, Arish Ali Khan 2-20).

Group ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Multan beat Abbottabad by five wickets.

ABBOTTABAD 207 in 49.1 overs (Nasrullah Khan 53, Hamza Khan 31 not out, Shahbaz Khan 25; Ali Aslam 3-14, Mohammad Asif 2-23, Mohammad Jahangir 2-39); MULTAN 210-5 in 45.4 overs (Mohammad Asif 76 not out, Ali Hasnain 70 not out; Sanaullah 2-45).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Karachi Blues beat Hyderabad by 13 runs.

KARACHI BLUES 236-9 in 50 overs (Anas Ilyas 58, Obaisullah Khan 57, Ghazi Nasir 32, Saif Ali 28; Mohammad Hasnain 3-27); HYDERABAD 223 in 49.3 overs (Saad Khan 88, Rafay Siddique 35, Saud Jafri 28, Nauman Akbar 25, Irfan Ikhlaq 20; Mohammad Nafay 3-13, Nadir Shah 2-30, Tariq Khan 2-37).

At TMC Ground, Karachi: Sialkot beat Larkana by 39 runs.

SIALKOT 174 in 42.4 overs (Mohsin Riaz 51, Mohammad Ali Khan 42, Usama Bilal 21; Umar Khalid 3-29, Arsalan Ahmed 2-26, Javed Ali Khoso 2-36); LARKANA 135 in 43.5 overs (Javed Ali Khoso 44, Umar Khalid 20; Nasim Akram 4-48, Farrukh Waqas 3-26).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Lahore Blues beat Bahawalpur by five wickets.

BAHAWALPUR 123 in 43.1 overs (Umar Rehman 26, Mohammad Junaid 25, Ali Imran 22; Nasim Shah 4-25, Hamza Tariq 3-25, Fahad Munir Qadri 2-31); LAHORE BLUES 124-5 in 33.1 overs (Saad Ali Refai 31, Attyab Ahmed 25 not out; Mohammad Junaid 2-26, Mohammad Muzammil Khan 2-34).

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2018