National One Day Cup: Israrullah epic takes Peshawar into final

Opener scores unbeaten 153 to defeat Karachi Blues, deny home crowd all-Karachi final

KARACHI: Peshawar opener Israrullah almost single-handedly powered his side to a 23-run win over Karachi Blues in the second semi-final of the National One Day Cup for regions at the National Stadium of Karachi on Tuesday.

The left-hander smashed an unbeaten 153 as he stayed out in the middle for the entire 50 overs, facing 148 balls and smashing 12 fours and five sixes, to take his side to 303; a score that was ultimately too much to deny the home fans an all-Karachi final.

Israrullah’s knock was impressive in isolation but it becomes even more so when keeping in mind that the second highest score of the innings was 45 made by Gauhar Ali; more than 100 runs less than Israrullah’s tally.

Former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Sami was the pick of the Karachi bowlers, claiming 51-2 in his 10 overs.

In reply, Karachi Blues’ openers Khurram Manzoor and Khalid Latif were unable to provide the explosive start they are capable of; scoring at a rate too slow for a chase of over 300. Their 59-run stand came in 16.4 overs at a run-rate of just over 3.5.

Left-handed middle-order batsman Fawad Alam was the only batsman from the top-order that looked to be chasing a score of over 300, scoring 30 off 21 balls before being dismissed by pacer Imran Khan. Manzoor was anchoring the innings but when he was dismissed, having scored 87 off 102 balls, Karachi never looked like chasing down the steep total.

Jaahid Ali (53 not out off 44 balls) came up with a counter-attacking half-century with the tail but it was all too little too late as ultimately Karachi’s suicidal running let them down, with four of their batsmen being dismissed run out.