Quaid-e-Azam Trophy: FATA, Islamabad’s fates out of their hands

Duo await other results after winning their own matches

KARACHI: FATA and Islamabad, with their impressive wins in the last round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy yesterday, increased their chances of qualifying for the Super-8 stage.

Irfanullah Shah, of FATA, took seven wickets in the second innings against Rawalpindi to finish with a 13-wicket haul for the match as his side won by 16 runs.

Chasing 101, Rawalpindi resumed their second innings on 17-4 but were skittled out on 88 runs, thanks to Shah and Saad Altaf’s heroics, with the latter taking three scalps of his own.

With that win, FATA now have 27 points and are in the top four of Pool A. They now await the verdict of the match between Karachi Whites (18 points) and Lahore Whites as a win for the former will bring the two teams level on points and better run rate will decide who progresses.

In Pool A, meanwhile, Islamabad defeated Lahore Blues by 58 runs as Hassan Ali added six more wickets to his first-innings haul of five and helped Islamabad restrict Lahore on 138 in their ill-fated chase of 196 runs.

With 24 points to their name, Islamabad now await the result of WAPDA and HBL’s match where a defeat for the latter will ensure Islamabad’s progression. In case Islamabad win or draw with a first-innings lead then the team with the better run rate will go through.

At stumps on day three, HBL were batting on 184-5 in reply to WAPDA’s first innings total of 361.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15^th, 2016.

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