KARACHI, Feb 16: Bad planning cost Karachi dearly as Faisalabad whipped them by 60 runs in the Quaid-i-Azam One-day Cup at the National Stadium on Monday. To their credit, Faisalabad never allowed Karachi to dictate terms on a slow pitch with the bounce invariably on the low side despite scoring just 56 runs in the first 16 overs of the match after Shahid Afridi, the Karachi stand-in skipper, inserted them into bat.

Faisalabad's fourth-wicket pair of skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and Naved Latif took the game away from the hosts, adding 204 runs in 207 balls during a breathtaking display of batting.

Misbah engineered the innings expertly against a bowling side that had Test speedster Mohammad Sami, but no variety to speak of. The right-hander finished on an unbeaten 107 off 122 balls, stroking 10 fours and two sixes.

However, it was the diminutive figure of Naved which changed the entire complexion of the match with an unforgettable 123 off just 97 deliveries. He batted like a man possessed to show the national selectors that he was still worth his place in the Pakistan one-day squad.

The right-hander, who turns 28 on Feb 21, bludgeoned eight sixes and as many fours, striking the ball cleanly to all parts of the ground. Several of his sixes landed in the stands.

Karachi's PCB appointed coach Sadiq Mohammad, it appeared, had remote idea how to deal with the situation. The former Test opener instead spent a great deal of his time recording the match on a video camera as Faisalabad made light of his star-studded outfit on the field.

Containing no less than seven Test stars, including the top six batsmen, Karachi mustered 245 in 46 overs after being set a target of 306. Afridi, as usual, plundered eight fours and three sixes on his way to 65 off 45 deliveries in the opening partnership of 91 before Saeed Ajmal bowled him in the 15th over when the robust right-hander unwisely tried to cut against the spin.

Shadab Kabir, the left-handed Test reject, was guilty of not rotating the strike enough during his alliance with Afridi. He laboured through 108 balls to make 60 that included six boundaries.

Asim Kamal, the left-hander who made 99 on Test debut against South Africa last year, revived faint hopes of victory as he crashed three fours and two sixes in a 17-ball 33 before falling to Saeed.

Saeed, the off-spinner, bowled splendidly throughout and was richly rewarded with magnificent figures of five for 18 in eight overs. The 26-year-old has this season gradually mastered the art of deceiving batsmen with the ball which curls away (from right-handers) without any apparent change in his off-spinning action.

In fact, none of the Karachi batsmen, was able to read him as four of his victims were Test players, including Hasan Raza who was brilliantly stumped off a wide delivery down the leg side by wicket-keeper Mohammad Salman.

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