KARACHI: Waqar Ahmed Sr smashed a century and Mohammad Ilyas took five wickets as Peshawar thrashed Rawalpindi by an innings and 93 runs to register their first win in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy at the Abbotabad Cricket Staidum in Abbotabad on Sunday.
The remaining three matches of the round ended as draws Starting the fourth and final day of the third-round fixture at 186-4, Peshawar went on to post 317 in their second innings as Waqar played a 274-ball knock for 184.
The opener hit 26 boundaries and a six through the course of his stand, which carried the weight of the whole Peshawar batting line-up, with Abbas Ali, the second best batter for the side, adding 45 off 100. Kashif Ali took five wickets for Rawalpindi.
Waqar’s contribution, however, turned out to be more than enough for Peshawar, as pacer Ilyas ran through the Rawalpindi batters to bundle the side out for just 87.
The right-armer registered figures of 5-26, while Abbas Ali and Sajid Khan picked up two wickets each and Niaz Khan chipped in with one.
At Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium, Sharoon Siraj and Hamayun Altaf hit half-centuries, while collaborating for a 95-run stand to help Multan end the day comfortably at 329-6.
At the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, the rain-marred fixture between Lahore Blues and Faisalabad saw a little more than only two innings being played.
After Faisalabad posted a first-innings total of 211-8, Lahore Blues were bowled out for 201.
The Lahore outfit’s captain Imran Butt put up successive partnerships of 25 runs each with Umar Siddiq and Rizwan Hussain, and then a 45-run-partnership with Usman Salahuddin. However, the Blues’ batting kept seeing periodic fall of wickets.
Lahore scraped to 201 runs, mostly on the back of Nisar Ahmed’s knock of 44 runs. Three wickets each by skipper Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Ali and Khurram Shahzad showed Faisalabad’s bowling prowess.
Faisalabad lost both their openers cheaply at the start of their second innings and only managed to put 34 on the board before stumps were called.
At the Shoaib Akhar Stadium in the same city, fighting knocks from Rameesh Aziz, Danish Aziz and Mohammad Hassan helped Karachi whites 144 after they had started the day at 64-4 against Fata.
A four-wicket-haul by Irfanullah Shah and two wickets apiece from Sameen Gul and Mohammad Sarwar Afridi helped Fata’s cause.
Fata managed 110-6 in their first innings.
Scores in brief
Match drawn between Lahore Whites and Multan
MULTAN 329-6 in 96 overs (Zain Abbas 94, Sharoon Siraj 64; Mohammad Naveed 2-73, Mohammad Irfan 2-84)
Peshawar beat Rawalpindi by an innings and 93 runs.
RAWALPINDI 137 in 53.1 overs (Syed Aqib Shah 37; Niaz Khan 5-53, Abbas Afridi 3-26) & 87 all out in 27.2 overs (Bilawal Bhatti 20; Mohammad Ilyas 5-26, Sajid Khan 2-8, Abbas Afridi 2-26); PESHAWAR 317 in 88.3 overs (Waqar Ahmed Sr 184; Abbas Ali 45; Kashif Ali 5-101, Bilawal Bhatti 2-70)
Match drawn between Faisalabad and Lahore Blues
FAISALABAD 211 in 83.2 overs (Mohammad Abubakar Khan 63, Ali Shan 55; Ali Shafique 5-36, Kashif Bhatti 3-38) and 34-2 in 13 overs (Abubakar Khan 13 not out; Ali Shafique 1-10, Waqas Ahmed 1-20); LAHORE BLUES 201 in 59.5 overs (Nisar Ahmed 44, Imran Butt 42; Faheem Ashraf 3-39, Khurram Shahzad 3-41, Mohammad Ali 3-44)
Match drawn between Fata and Karachi Whites
KARACHI WHITES 144 in 66.1 overs (Rameesh Aziz 45, Mohammad Hasan 32*; Irfanullah Shah 4-35, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi 2-14, Sameen Gul 2-30); FATA 110-6 in 41 overs (Mohammad Nisar Afridi 24, Rehan Afridi 23; Ghulam Mudassar 2-25, Mir Hamza 2-30).—
Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2023
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