WAPDA, UBL, SSGC, Islamabad, KRL, SNGPL, NBP and Karachi Whites are the eight teams who will battle it out in the next stage of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. PHOTO COURTESY: SHAKIR KHILJI
KARACHI: SSGC, Islamabad, SNGPL, NBP and Karachi Whites were among the teams who booked their places in the Super-Eight stage following the conclusion of the seventh round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy yesterday.
The match between SSGC and UBL ended in a draw and even though it were UBL who had the first innings lead, SSGC still hung on to their third place in Pool A, thanks to their 26-point tally.
On the fourth and final day, UBL resumed their first innings on 185-1 and reached 551-3 with the help of an unbeaten double ton by Sohaib Maqsood, who amassed 222 runs off 212 balls for his first-ever double century. Earlier, Umair Khan had scored 105 runs.
But HBL crashed out of the competition as their drawn match with WAPDA, coupled with Islamabad’s win over Lahore Blues a day earlier, demoted them from fourth to fifth.
Sohaib Maqsood scores unbeaten 222 in SSG-UBL draw
Islamabad, who rose from fifth to fourth will instead be progressing at HBL’s expense.
On the final day, HBL resumed their first innings on 184-5 and were able to add 84 runs to reach 269 before losing all wickets as WAPDA’s Zulfiqar Babar claimed six wickets. At the end of play, WAPDA were batting on 90-1 in their second innings.
NBP, who had 29 points to their name, also drew their fixture against KRL and slipped down from second to third in Pool B.
After resuming their first innings on 166-5, NBP managed a total of 228 runs as tournament’s top wicket-taker Muhammad Abbas added another five-for to his tally.
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At the end of the match, KRL were batting on 197-4 in their second innings.
SNGPL, meanwhile, climbed up from third to second spot in Pool B with their six-wicket win over PIA to finish with 36 points.
PIA resumed their second innings on 188-9 and lost their last wicket a run later, setting a target of 157 for SNGPL, who reached it with four wickets to spare courtesy Iftikhar Ahmed’s unbeaten 65.
In the last match, Karachi Whites defeated Lahore Whites by eight wickets to book their place in the Super-Eight.
Waqas a thorn in Islamabad’s side
Trailing by 118 runs in their second innings, Lahore Whites resumed their innings on 146-1 and were dismissed for 317 as Azam Hussain and Razaul Hassan took four wickets each.
Karachi Whites needed just 54 runs to win and they did so in just 7.2 overs with the help of Saad Ali’s unbeaten 23 and Faraz Ali’s 21.
In the end, WAPDA (46 points), UBL (36 points), SSGC (24 points) and Islamabad (24 points) captured the top four spots in Pool A, while KRL (45 points), SNGPL (36 points), NBP (29 points) and Karachi Whites (27 points) did the same in Pool B.
The group of eight will compete against each other in the tournament’s next stage.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 16th, 2016.
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