KARACHI: Abbottabad are almost guaranteed of a semi-final place in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-II Cricket Tournament after defeating Larkana by 85 runs for their second straight victory in the Group ‘B’ encounter here at the UBL Sports Complex on Thursday.

Faisalabad, who were held to a draw by a tenacious Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) in the first round, sealed their first triumph when they nailed Sialkot by eight wickets in the Group ‘A’ fixture at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

The day’s other winners in the second round were Quetta who overcame Dera Murad Jamali by six wickets in the other Group ‘B’ match here at the NBP Sports Complex, while Hyderabad earned three points in the drawn tie against Bahawalpur at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Mirpur (AJK).

Larkana’s late order put up a decent fightback against Abbottabad by taking their overnight score of 20-2 to 243 all out after being 80-5 at one stage. Faraz Aziz led the spirited comeback with a gutsy three-hour 73 from 165 balls that included seven fours and one six.

Faraz was ably supported by Aamir Pahnwar (39 off 50 balls, six boundaries) as the two added 62 for the seventh wicket in 69 minutes.

Slow left-armer Fawad Malook continued his excellent form with another rich bag of 5-35 in 26.4 overs, giving him magnificent match analysis of 9-60.

Sialkot could add just 16 more runs to their second evening’s tally of 135-9 before being dismissed for 151 with slow left-armer Mohammad Qasim Ali claiming the last wicket to fall to finish with seven for 41 in 14.5 overs and match figures of 9-57.

Needing only 51, Faisalabad lost two wickets — both to the occasional off-spin of Sialkot skipper Shahid Yousuf — before accomplishing their mission.

Dera Murad Jamali (DMJ) added 153 to their overnight second-innings total of 108-3 when they were bowled out for 261 by Quetta. Aaqib Junaid was the top-scorer with a 134-ball knock of 61 (seven boundaries).

Left-arm spinner Mohammad Javed was the pick of Quetta bowling with 4-78 in 30 overs, while paceman Gohar Faiz grabbed 3-13 in 11 overs to end up with seven for 71 for the match.

Chasing 93, Quetta romped home for their first success by reaching 96-4 in 22 overs.

Meanwhile, no less than 15 wickets tumbled on the last day of the three-day game in Mirpur. After Bahawalpur, who resumed at 261-9, were all out for 254 with Mohammad Umair ending with an unbeaten 116 (198 balls, nine fours and two sixes), Hyderabad suffered a second-innings collapse to be sent packing for 149 in 45.1 overs.

Paceman Ataullah captured five wickets for 49 runs from 19 overs, while Kaleemullah took 3-36.

Having conceded a lead of 51 on the first innings, Bahawalpur opted for safety as they closed at 106-4 in pursuit of an unlikely target of 201 in the limited left.

The third round of matches will commence from Saturday.

Results and scores on Thursday (final day of three):

Second round:

Group ‘A’:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: Faisalabad beat Sialkot by eight wickets.

SIALKOT 101 in 34.1 overs (Abdullah Shafiq 34, Shakeel Ansar 22; Khurram Shehzad 7-55, Ehsan Adil 2-16) and 151 in 37.5 overs (Faisal Khan 52, Asad Ali 25, Abdullah Shafiq 22; Mohammad Qasim 7-41); FAISALABAD 202 in 66 overs (Ali Shan 54 not out, Misbah-ul-Haq 46, Abubakar Khan 37, Asad Ali 21; Bilawal Bhatti 3-35, Mohammad Ali 3-67, Raza Hasan 2-39) and 51-2 in 14.5 overs (Khurram Shehzad 24 not out; Shahid Yousuf 2-18).

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, AJK: Match drawn.

HYDERABAD 315-9 in 83 overs (Mohammad Sulaiman 73, Saad Khan 60, Azeem Ghumman 53, Zeeshan Gul 53, Asad Malik 23 not out; Mohammad Imran 4-64, Mohammad Junaid 4-116) and 149 in 45.1 overs (Lal Kumar 45, Azeem Ghumman 22, Babar Khan 22 not out; Ataullah 5-49, Kaleemullah 3-36); BAHAWALPUR 264 in 80 overs (Mohammad Umair 116 not out, Adeel Basit 43, Moinuddin 22; Nauman Ali 4-80, Asif Mahmood 2-36, Asad Malik 2-37) and 106-4 in 25 overs (Moinuddin 29 not out, Mohammad Imran 27, Mohammad Umair 24 not out; Nauman Ali 2-18).

Group ‘B’:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Abbottabad beat Larkana by 85 runs.

ABBOTTABAD 244 in 59.1 overs (Aitzaz Habib 77 not out, Sajjad Ali 55, Imran Shah 39, Kamran Ghulam 30; Faraz Aziz 5-59, Muzammil Ali 2-39, Ali Asghar 2-78) and 237-6 declared in 52 overs (Kamran Ghulam 52, Sajjad Ali 51, Fawad Malook 41 not out, Mohammad Hasnain 34 not out, Imran Shah 23; Ali Asghar 3-55; Shahnawaz Dhani 2-65); LARKANA 153 in 62.5 overs (Asif Babar 39, Mohsin Khokhar 24, Aamir Pahnwar 24; Fawad Malook 4-25, Aitzaz Habib 4-40) and 243 in 79.4 overs (Faraz Aziz 73, Aamir Pahnwar 39, Rameez Ahmed 26, Mohsin Khokhar 24, Habibullah 24, Ali Asghar 21 not out; Fawad Malook 5-35, Bilal Shah 2-47, Aitzaz Habib 2-73).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Quetta beat Dera Murad Jamali by six wickets.

QUETTA 305-4 in 83 overs (Shahbaz Khan 136 not out, Shahzad Tareen 69, Abdul Hannan 45) and 96-4 in 22 overs (Shahbaz Khan 27 not out; Hidayatullah 2-22); DERA MURAD JAMALI 136 in 54.2 overs (Nasir Khan 22, Saleem Mal 22, Abid Ali 20; Gohar Faiz 4-58, Azizullah 3-25, Mohiuddin 2-33) and 261 in 102.2 overs (Aaqib Junaid 61, Abid Ali 54, Shahbaz Ali 37, Dawood Khan 27, Nasir Khan 26, Asif Ali 20; Mohammad Javed 4-78, Gohar Faiz 3-13, Shahzad Tareen 2-87).

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2019