Rawalpindi beat Hyderabad convincingly

KARACHI: Rawalpindi defeated Hyderabad by six wickets on the final day of their four-day Group II opener of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy on Saturday.

Rawalpindi achieved the 196-run target in 52 overs after losing four wickets at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad.

Skipper Babar Naeem scored 68 off 104 balls, hitting five fours and a six. The 30-year-old left-hander put on 98 runs for the third wicket with Umar Waheed who scored 51 off 107 deliveries, cracking four boundaries.

Earlier, opener Awais Zia hit 31 with four strikes to the fence. Adnan Mufti (26) and Shoaib Ahmed (14) added 28 runs for the fifth wicket unbroken association to guide the visitors to a well-deserved triumph.

Left-arm spinner Nouman Ali took 2-74, ending with five wickets in the match.

Earlier, after having faced a 125-run first innings deficit Hyderabad resumed their second innings at 232-3 and were all out for 320.

It was expected that the two not out batsmen, skipper Aqeel Anjum and international Rizwan Ahmed, would build a good partnership but the duo fell early in the morning to leave the hosts in deep trouble. Aqeel, who was at the crease on 49 on Friday, fell for 53, trapped leg before off Nasir Malik, while left-arm pacer Sadaf Hussain got rid of Rizwan who fell for 64, after adding only three runs to his overnight total.

Shoaib Leghari in the end smashed seven fours and a six in his entertaining 37 runs knock, while Mir Ali made 21 with three boundaries.

Left-arm pacer Nasir Malik captured 3-61, ending with 7-166 in the match, while Sadaf Hussain, who remained out of action for a year due to an injury, clinched 3-81, finishing with 8-106.

Meanwhile, the match between Lahore Ravi and Islamabad ended in a draw with the latter gaining three points thanks to their first innings lead.

After conceding 136 runs lead, Lahore Ravi scored 178-8 in their second innings till the end of the game at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital.

Skipper Adnan Akmal, who had cracked 86 not out in the first innings, played another fine innings of 71. The Test wicket-keeper smashed nine fours in his 113-ball innings. Test discard Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Shehzad Azam and Imad Wasim grabbed two wickets each.

Earlier, in response to Lahore Ravi’s 216, Islamabad began their first innings at 344-9 and were all out for 352.

Off-spinner Adnan Rasool picked 4-80, while Imran Ali bagged 3-73.

No play was possible on the third day between Bahawalpur and Lahore Shalimar at the LCCA Ground in Lahore due to rains.

Bahawalpur have scored 61-1 in their first innings.

Meanwhile, on the penultimate day at the Multan Stadium, Multan were 77-3 in reply to Quetta’s first innings total of 210 as only 47.3 overs of play was possible due to inclement weather. Usman Liaquat belted 32 while Ahmed Rashid made 22.

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