Saleem’s 128 keeps Sheikhupura in hunt
KARACHI, Feb 15: A superb unbeaten 128 by Saleem Mughal propelled Sheikhupura to a vital five-wicket victory over Islamabad in the Quaid Trophy Grade-I match at Sheikhupura Stadium Friday.
Sheikhupura’s fifth win keeps alive their hopes of reaching next month’s final as they top Group-II with 60 points.
The qualifiers from this group will be decided in the last round clash between Sheikhupura and Peshawar, who also have collected 60 points, from Monday at Peshawar’s Arbab Niaz Stadium.
At one stage, Sheikhupura, who picked nine points from the game, were heading for defeat with half their side back in the pavilion for 160 on the final day.
But wicket-keeper Sarfraz Kazmi (52 not out) then joined Saleem in the unbroken match-winning stand of 119 that guided Sheikhupura home at 279 for five.
ISLAMABAD (1st Innings) 342 (Bilal Asad 109, Atif Ashraf 68, Rao Iftikhar 55; Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan 6-102, Jaffar Nazir 4-92).
SHEIKHUPURA (1st Innings) 247 (Mohammad Azam 73 not out; Raheel Majeed 5-66).
ISLAMABAD (2nd Innings, overnight 179-9):
Iftikhar Hussain c Sarfraz b Faisal 29
Raheel Majeed lbw b Jaffar 19
Bilal Asad c Naseem b Faisal 14
Irfan Bhatti lbw b Jaffar 1
Rashid Amin Butt lbw b Jaffar 2
Azhar Mahmood c Sarfraz b Saleem 51
Atif Ashraf b Jaffar 2
Ishtiaq Rabbani run out 34
Rao Iftikhar c Saleem b Jaffar 8
Saad Janjua c R. Naveed b Faisal 1
Raja M. Kashif not out 3
EXTRAS (B-8, LB-8, W-1, NB-6) 23
TOTAL (all out, 62.1 overs) 183
FALL OF WKTS: 1-54, 2-58, 3-64, 4-70, 5-79, 6-89, 7-168, 8-176, 9-177.
BOWLING: Jaffar Nazir 22-7-55-5; Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan 1-0-4-0; Maqsood Raza 1.1-0-6-0; Qaiser Abbas 2-0-8-0; Faisal Virk 25-9-56-3; Yasir Bashir 4-0-14-0; Imran Nazir 2-0-15-0; Saleem Mughal 5-1-9-1.
SHEIKHUPURA (2nd Innings):
Imran Nazir lbw b Azhar 13
Mohammad Azam c Irfan b R. Iftikhar 1
Maqsood Raza lbw b Saad 29
Saleem Mughal not out 128
Qaiser Abbas c Atif b I. Hussain 23
Yasir Bashir lbw b Azhar 16
Sarfraz Kazmi not out 52
EXTRAS (B-6, LB-3, W-2, NB-6) 17
TOTAL (for five wkts, 63.4 overs) 279
FALL OF WKTS: 1-15, 2-15, 3-92, 4-148, 5-160.
BOWLING: Azhar Mahmood 18-2-66-2; Rao Iftikhar 8-0-44-1; Irfan Bhatti 2-0-9-0; Saad Janjua 11-0-60-1; Raheel Majeed 10-1-41-0; Ishtiaq Rabbani 4-0-10-0; Iftikhar Hussain 6-1-14-1; Bilal Asad 4.4-0-26-0.
RESULT: Sheikhupura won by five wickets.
UMPIRES: Siddique Khan and Z.I. Pasha.
MATCH REFEREE: Shafiq Ahmed.