KARACHI: On a bad day for former powerhouses, Karachi and Lahore, defending champions Peshawar bounced back on Monday from a last-round loss while Rawalpindi surged to the top of National One-day Regional Cup standings.

In the third-round fixtures, both the Lahore outfits — Whites and Blues — were embarrassed by Islamabad and Rawalpindi respectively, while Peshawar thumped Karachi Whites and Faisalabad won a high-scoring game to leave the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) rooted at the bottom of the eight-team table.

Faisalabad, who are being skippered by retired Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, ran out comfortable winners despite Fata reaching an impressive 311-9 in their 50 overs at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

Upcoming all-rounder Khushdil Shah slammed an 80-ball 93, featuring half a dozen sixes and five fours, while Sohail Akhtar bludgeoned a quickfire 85 as he and Khushdil engineered a fine recovery by putting 87 for the seventh wicket.

Sohail struck seven fours and six sixes in making 85 from just 55 deliveries.

Seamer Mohammad Imran followed up his 4-41 on Saturday versus Islamabad with four for 38.

Faisalabad then cruised home with 40 balls to spare as opener Zain Abbas posted his second ton in three days. The left-hander, who made 112 in the 10-wicket drubbing of Islamabad, scored 104 off 92 balls (12 fours and two sixes) as and Asif Ali shared a second-wicket partnership of 180.

Asif blazed his way to 133 off only 94 deliveries as the right-hander plundered 13 boundaries and as many as seven sixes.

After Zain and Asif departed, it was left to the evergreen Misbah to finish the job with a 29-ball effort of 35 (three fours and two sixes).

The left-arm bowling trio of skipper Sohail Tanvir (3-49), Sadaf Hussain (2-20) and Kashif Bhatti (3-34) sent Lahore Blues reeling to 181 all out at the KRL Stadium despite a defiant unbeaten 52-ball 50 (eight boun­daries) from No. 9 Bilawal Iqbal.

Rawalpindi struggled in the chase before winning by four wickets with star Pakistan opener Azhar Ali scoring 68 (off 112 balls, six fours).

Islamabad ended their run of two losses upfront by sealing a much-needed 51-run win against Lahore Whites at the Diamond Club Ground.

A second-wicket stand of 149 between skipper Shan Masood (83 off 92 balls, 11 fours) and the in-form Faizan Riaz (95 off 111, 10 boundaries) enabled the hosts collect 282-8 in their 50 overs.

Lahore Whites slumped to 32-3 in the 11th over before skipper Usman Salahuddin (81 off 90, 11 fours and one six) and Mohammad Mohsin (61 off 49, six fours and two sixes) combined to put on 120. But once both got, their side collapsed to 231 all out with slow left-armer snaring four wickets for 41 runs.

Karachi Whites lost their unblemished two-match streak when they were curtailed to just 206-8 at the National Ground. Long-discarded international Fawad Alam fought a forlorn battle with an unconquered innings of 90 (128 balls, five boundaries).

Israrullah’s occasional spinners fetched the Peshawar opener figures of 3-40 in nine tidy overs. The left-hander then scored 45 off 31 balls (five fours and two sixes) as he and Sahi­bzada Farhan (85 off 88, 13 fours) added 86 for the first wicket.

Ashfaq Ahmed (52 off 69, five fours and one six) further tormented Karachi by adding 101 for the second wicket with Farhan before Peshawar clinched a seven-wicket triumph with more than 15 overs left unutilised.

Monday’s results:

Third round:

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Faisalabad beat Fata by seven wickets.

Fata 311-9 in 50 overs (Khushdil Shah 93, Sohail Akhtar 85, Fawad Khan 40; Mohammad Imran 4-38, Khurram Shehzad 2-83); Faisalabad 316-3 in 43.2 overs (Asif Ali 133, Zain Abbas 104, Misbah-ul-Haq 35 not out; Hammad Azam 2-45).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: Rawalpindi beat Lahore Blues by four wickets.

Lahore Blues 181-9 in 50 overs (Bilawal Iqbal 50 not out, Saad Nasim 44, Agha Salman 21, Mohammad Saad 20; Kashif Bhatti 3-34, Sohail Tanvir 3-49, Sadaf Hussain 2-20); Rawalpindi 183-6 in 45.3 overs (Azhar Ali 68, Saud Shakeel 33 not out, Iftikhar Ahmed 33, Naved Malik 25; Agha Salman 2-28, Raza Ali Dar 2-36).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Islamabad beat Lahore Whites by 51 runs.

Islamabad 282-8 in 50 overs (Faizan Riaz 95, Shan Masood 83, Sarmad Bhatti 32, Shahid Yousuf 22; Umaid Asif 3-54, Waqas Ahmed 2-52); Lahore Whites 231 in 45 overs (Usman Salahuddin 81, Mohammad Mohsin 61, Zafar Gohar 25, Adnan Akmal 20; Nauman Ali 4-41, Shehzad Azam Rana 3-25, Mohammad Irfan 2-35).

At National Ground, Islamabad: Peshawar beat Karachi Whites by seven wickets.

Karachi Whites 206-8 in 50 overs (Fawad Alam 90 not out, Faisal Iqbal 27, Asad Shafiq 22; Israrullah 3-40, Zohaib Khan 2-37, Taj Wali 2-37); Peshawar 212-3 in 34.5 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 85, Ashfaq Ahmed 52, Israrullah 45; Danish Aziz 2-23).

Wednesday’s fixtures: Rawalpindi vs Lahore Whites (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Islamabad vs Lahore Blues (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); Peshawar vs Faisalabad (Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar).

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2018