KARACHI: Mohammad Abbas rounded off his preparations for next week’s first New Zealand Test with a grand haul of 12 wickets on Saturday as holders Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) sealed a 76-run win over Wapda in their Super Eight fixture of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship.

The 28-year-old Pakistan seamer claimed three further victims on the fourth and final day’s play at the SBP Sports Complex to end up with figures of 6-52 in 30.2 overs to help SNGPL get over the line after dogged resistance from Kamran Akmal and Wahab Riaz extended the match well into the last session as Wapda added 202 runs in 80.2 overs to their overnight score of 120-4 before being all out for 322.

Abbas, who has now taken four successive five-for including figures of 5-33 and 5-62 in the Abu Dhabi Test win against Australia last month, finished with match analysis of 12-94 in 15.5 overs. Having grabbed 17 wickets in two Australia Tests, Abbas has been in phenomenal wicket-taking form this year with 79 victims from his last 13 first-class appearances — which also include 50 in 10 games for English county side Leicestershire in the summer — and reached the coveted milestone of 400 wickets in just 86 matches with the sixth wicket in Wapda’s first innings, while becoming one of the quickest to get there.

Champions SNGPL upstage Wapda in Super Eight clash

Kamran, who also top-scored in the first innings for last season’s runners-up with 50, was dismissed by discarded Pakistan paceman Bilawal Bhatti for a gutsy 98 after the former national team wicket-keeper began the day at 40. Kamran’s 147-ball knock in 257 minutes included 11 fours and a brace of sixes.

Bilawal was responsible for dismissing ex-Pakistan skipper Salman But (43 off 92 balls, six boundaries) before finishing with 3-68 in 20 overs.

Wahab used the long handle to good effect as he made 54 from 101 balls in 145 minutes with the help of six fours and one six.

Mohammad Amir, who was overlooked for the New Zealand Tests as well on Saturday, picked up four wickets for 40 runs as Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) defeated Peshawar by 108 runs at the Southend Club.

Peshawar, who began their chase for 252, suffered a dramatic collapse after reaching 100-3 when they were bowled out for 143.

Amir was overshadowed by 19-year-old first-class debutant slow left-armer Umar Khan who snared magnificent figures of 6-37 in 15 overs.

Another southpaw to steal limelight on Saturday was Nauman Ali who took 6-56 in 24.4 overs while inspiring Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) to a 141-run win over Lahore Blues at the NBP Sports Complex.

Scores and results on Saturday (final day of four):

Super Eight stage, first round:

Group-I:

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: SNGPL beat Wapda by 76 runs.

SNGPL 371 in 140.1 overs (Hussain Talat 76, Asad Shafiq 50, Misbah-ul-Haq 50, Khurram Shehzad 48, Iftikhar Ahmed 38, Imran Khalid 30, Imran Butt 28; Mohammad Asif 4-65, Zulfiqar Babar 4-100) and 187-3 declared in 40.5 overs (Azhar Ali 72, Hussain Talat 43 not out, Imran Butt 28, Khurram Shehzad 28; Zulfiqar Babar 2-67); WAPDA 160 in 40.5 overs (Kamran Akmal 50, Wahab Riaz 20; Mohammad Abbas 6-42, Mohammad Musa Khan 3-39) and 322 in 108.2 overs (Kamran Akmal 98, Wahab Riaz 54, Mohammad Akhlaq 44, Salman Butt 43, Aamir Sajjad 33; Mohammad Abbas 6-52, Bilawal Bhatti 3-68).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: KRL beat Lahore Blues by 141 runs.

KRL 207 in 93.4 overs (Junaid Ali 49, Usman Arshad 45, Mohammad Mohsin 42, Nayyar Abbas 34; Zafar Gohar 5-74, Aizaz Cheema 3-45) and 304-9 declared in 98 overs (Jaahid Ali 124 not out, Usman Arshad 65, Nauman Ali 28; Aizaz Cheema 2-41, Saad Nasim 2-52, Mohammad Rameez 2-58, Zafar Gohar 2-97); LAHORE BLUES 203 in 76.5 overs (Irfan Haider 96 not out, Rizwan Hussain 33, Jahangir Mirza 31; Nayyar Abbas 4-52, Nauman Ali 3-58) and 167 in 55.4 overs (Saad Nasim 67 not out, Rizwan Hussain 31, Bilawal Iqbal 21; Nauman Ali 6-56, Nayyar Abbas 2-40, Yasir Ali 2-40).

Group-II:

At Southend Club, Karachi: SSGCL beat Peshawar by 108 runs.

SSGCL 376 in 100.4 overs (Umar Amin 172, Awais Zia 62, Mohammad Amir 33, Adil Amin 31; Mohammad Ilyas 4-69, Zahid Mahmood 2-102) and 178 in 54.2 overs (Umar Amin 46, Mohammad Amir 33, Asif Zakir 27; Mohammad Ilyas 5-44, Nasir Ahmed 3-34); PESHAWAR 303 in 103.2 overs (Gohar Ali 86, Akbar Badshah 48, Nabi Gul 47, Zahid Mahmood 34, Mohammad Mohsin Khan 23; Mohammad Irfan 4-71, Ahmed Jamal 3-54, Mohammad Amir 2-47) and 143 in 50.5 overs (Mohammad Mohsin Khan 33, Israrullah 26; Umar Khan 6-37, Mohammad Amir 4-40).

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2018