National One-Day Cup: Zia bowls NBP to tournament final

Pacer bags five-wicket haul to help team beat UBL by six wickets

KARACHI: Ziaul Haq, the tournament’s current leading wicket-taker, bagged five scalps to book NBP’s place in the National One-Day Cup final as the team completed a six-wicket victory over UBL in the semi-final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Tuesday.

Asked to bat first, UBL soon ran into trouble when they lost two quick wickets on 10 runs in the space of three deliveries, with Zia further reducing UBL to 30-3.

UBL were unable to build a strong partnership, as a 42-run stand by Younus Khan and Hammad Azam was the best they could manage. Younus was soon sent back by NBP’s Muhammad Asghar after scoring 41 runs off 65 balls, while Hammad was dismissed by Zia after scoring an 83-ball 59.



No other batsman went past 24, with Adnan Baig and Yasim Mutaza scoring 24 and 13 runs respectively as Zia picked up two more scalps to complete his five-wicket haul to restrict UBL on 185 in 48.5 overs.

In reply, NBP chased down the target in 41.4 overs as unbeaten Akbarur Rehman built two strong partnerships of 73 and 69 runs with Kamran Akmal and Umar Waheed respectively. Rehman scored 70 runs off 84 deliveries, while Akmal struck 63 runs off 79 balls. UBL’s Hammad bagged two wickets.



According to losing captain Shan Masood, the team failed to score due to weather conditions. “The weather was in the bowlers’ favour in the morning,” claimed Masood. “That’s why winning the toss matters a lot. Our players have performed well in previous matches, but were unlucky in the semi-final.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2016.

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