Akber dazzles as Blues crush Sialkot

KARACHI: Karachi Blues overwhelmed Sialkot by ten wickets while Karachi Whites defeated Rawalpindi by three wickets on the third day of their third round four-day fixtures of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy here on Wednesday.

At the NBP Sports Complex, after being forced to follow-on, Sialkot perished for 249, thus giving a 20-run target which Karachi Blues achieved in three overs easily.

Ali Khan top-scored for Sialkot with a run-a-ball 82, hitting five sixes and four boundaries. Mohammad Ayub made 35-ball 39 with eight sweetly-timed boundaries. Leg-break bowler Akber-ur-Rehman, who sometimes also acts as a pacer, played a key role in Blues’ win as he bagged 4-65, ending with 8-84 for the match.

Karachi Blues scored 354 in their first innings while in reply Sialkot were bowled out for only 124.

This was the second consecutive triumph for Blues in Group-I that has taken their points tally to 21 in three outings.

Meanwhile, in Group-II here at the National Stadium, Karachi Whites also inked their second consecutive victory when they defeated Rawalpindi after a tough fight to stretch their tally to 18 from three meetings.

Chasing a victory target of 168, Karachi Whites faced some hiccups before reaching their goal in 48 overs after losing seven batters in the process.

Opener Khalid Latif struck fine 51 with seven exquisite fours while Test wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed belted 27-ball 36 with six fours and Saeed bin Nasir belted a sedate 33 not out.

Sohail Tanvir took 2-65 while his fellow pacer Haseeb Azam claimed 2-18, ending with four wickets in the show.

Earlier, after having conceded a 32-run lead, Rawalpindi resumed their second innings at 121-5 and were bowled out for 199. Test batsman Umar Amin, who recently toured India with the Pakistan team, failed to bring his side out of deep trouble as he fell for 57 with six fours and a six after adding only 14 runs to his overnight total. Haseeb Azam remained not out on 20.

Left-arm spinner Faraz Ahmed Khan was the pick of the bowlers as he grabbed 4-10 in just 4.2 overs while off-spinner Atif Maqbool captured 3-38, ending with 8-100. Rawalpindi scored 153 in their first innings while in reply Karachi Whites staged 185.

At the LCCA Ground in Lahore, Lahore Ravi posted 408-4 in their first innings against Quetta. Abid Ali was at the crease on 197. The 25-year old hit 29 fours in his 376-ball unfinished innings that lasted for 499 minutes. The right-hander added 208 runs for the third wicket stand with skipper Adnan Akmal who fell for 86 with nine fours. This was Adnan’s third consecutive fifty in the trophy. Mohibullah took 2-72.

Multan were 111-3 in reply to Peshawar’s first innings total of 194 at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Naved Yasin was at the crease on 49.

Earlier, Peshawar resumed their first innings at 113-1 and were all out for 194. Mohammad Fayyaz slammed 75 with 13 boundaries.

Test wicket-keeper Mohammad Salman cracked 76 not out with 14 fours to guide Faisalabad to post 265 in their first innings against Lahore Shalimar at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Test pacer Aizaz Cheema picked 5-64 while left-arm spinner Mohammad Irfan bagged 3-48. At close Lahore Shalimar were 44 without loss.

Pacer Ahmad Jamal took 6-80 to help Abbottabad bowl Bahawalpur out for 216 in their first innings at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Rehan Rafiq (55) and Moinuddin (52) were the prominent scorers.

At close Abbottaabd were 169-2 with skipper Yasir Hameed batting on 63 and left-hander Adnan Raees on 48.

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