KARACHI: While Peshawar and Karachi Blues are almost on verge of reaching the semi-finals of the PCB Inter-region Under-19 One-day Cup as they occupy the top two spots in Group ‘B’, the situation in Group ‘A’ remains unclear on Saturday with five teams still in the running for places.

With rains again playing havoc with the sixth-round fixtures in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, the game at the Marghazar Ground was abandoned any action owing wet conditions while leaving Azad Jammu Kashmir and Dera Murad Jamali with one point apiece.

The other three matches were all truncated affairs in which Quetta lost their unblemished run when they Islamabad won a 20-over clash by seven wickets at the Diamond Club Ground to go top of the pool.

Faisalabad, in the meantime, suffered their first defeat when Fata clinched a 10-run victory in a 26-over encounter at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, while Rawalpindi celebrated their first success to dent Karachi Whites’ last-four aspirations at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

In a game reduced to 38 overs per side, Karachi Whites managed 141 all out in 37 overs before Rawalpindi got over the line by making 144-4 in 36.3 overs.

Peshawar, meanwhile, continued their undefeated sequence in Group ‘B’ as they grabbed a 59-run result in their favour against Bahawalpur at the National Stadium to chalk up a fifth straight win.

Karachi Blues sent Larkana packing for a measly 53 all out at the NBP Sports Complex in an eight-wicket triumph, their fifth in six outings.

Saud Jaffri missed out on a well-deserved hundred when he fell for 97 (off 177 balls, 10 boundaries) as Hyderabad posted 267-9 at the UBL Sports Complex before bowling out Multan for 162 to emerge victorious by a handsome margin of 105 runs.

Abbottabad upstaged Sialkot by 64 runs in the day’s remaining Group ‘B’ tie at the TMC Ground.

Saturday’s results:

Sixth round:

Group ‘A’:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Fata beat Faisalabad by 10 runs.

FATA 156 in 26 overs (Salman Khan 55, Abdul Raheem 32; Yousuf Khan 5-31, Saif Ali 2-38); FAISALABAD 146 in 26 overs (Mohammad Awais Zafar 56, Saif Ali 32; Hasnain Hussain 5-18, Mohammad Abbas Afridi 2-33).

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

KARACHI WHITES 141 in 37 overs (Aamir Iqbal 34, 3Mohammad Taha 33, Shoaib Ahmed 21; Farhan Shafiq 4-26, Suleman Khushi 2-17); RAWALPINDI 144-4 in 36.3 overs (Mohammad Ajmal 63 not out, Haider Ali 44, Awais Abid 23).

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

QUETTA 81 in 17.3 overs (Abdul Wahid Sr 17; Uzair Waheed 3-12, Haroon Wahid 2-13); ISLAMABAD 82-3 in 13.2 overs (Azan Tariq 33, Hasan Abid Kiani 21; Junaid Khan 2-30).

At Marghazar Ground, Islamabad: AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR vs DERA MURAD JAMALI — match abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Group ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Peshawar beat Bahawalpur by 59 runs.

PESHAWAR 216 in 46.4 overs (Mohammad Mohsin Khan 56, Aamir Azmat 44, Mohammad Haris 34, Saqib Jamil 20; Mohammad Junaid 5-28, Mohammad Hamza 3-36, Talha Wajih 2-32); BAHAWALPUR 157 in 44.2 overs (Abdul Hadi 58, Aoun Abbas 27; Izhar Ahmed 3-22, Saqib Jamil 2-26, Awais Ali Shah 2-36).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Hyderabad beat Multan by 105 runs.

HYDERABAD 267-9 in 50 overs (Saud Jaffri 97, Mohammad Faisal 42, Saad Khan 38, Rafay Siddiqui 28; Mohammad Jahangir 5-41); MULTAN 162 in 41 overs (Mohammad Basit 45, Shoaib Khan 22, Ali Aslam 22; Saad Khan 3-19, Hasan Ali 3-24, Waqas Ashiq 2-14).

At TMC Ground, Karachi: Abbottabad beat Sialkot by 64 runs.

ABBOTTABAD 207 in 47.5 overs (Mohammad Azam Farooq 51, Mashal Khan 51, Khayyam Khan 41, Abdur Rehman 28; Farrukh Waqas 4-43, Ghulam Mohiuddin 3-27, Hasnain 3-41); SIALKOT 143 in 33.3 overs (Farrukh Waqas 35, Mohammad Zohair 25, Usama Bilal 22; Abdur Rehman 4-21, Khalid Ali 2-15, Hamza Khan 2-46).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Karachi Blues beat Larkana by eight wickets.

LARKANA 53 in 27.3 overs (Sharaf Din 20; Tariq Khan 4-17, Khalid-un-Nabi 2-2, Nadir Shah 2-10, Ghazi Nasir 2-21); KARACHI BLUES 57-2 in 9.5 overs (Anas Ilyas 31 not out).

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2018