Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final: Herculean HBL face well-balanced WAPDA

Bankers’ batting makes them favourites but underdogs are also up for fight

KARACHI: WAPDA and HBL will clash in the 2016 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy’s day-night final, which will be played at the National Stadium of Karachi (NSK) from tomorrow.

The Salman Butt-led WAPDA boasts a strong batting line-up and in Kamran Akmal has the tournament’s leading runs scorer, while the skipper himself has 511 runs to his name.

“Reaching the final would not have been possible without Akmal,” Butt told The Express Tribune. “We are really lucky to have him in the side. His knocks have saved us in every match we have played and because of him we are the most successful team of the tournament.”

In their 10 matches this season, WAPDA have won seven, lost one and drawn two, while HBL have won four, lost two and drawn four.

WAPDA have played two day-night fixtures — one at Rawalpindi and the other at NSK — and have won both.

Likewise, HBL also boast a perfect record under floodlights, having won their sole day-night fixture at NSK.

“The depth in our squad is also our strength, especially our reserves who stepped up for the injured regulars time in time again during the course of the season and never let the team’s performance dip,” added Butt. “The bowlers Khalid Usman and Waqas Maqsood have also helped us out a lot.”

Butt admitted that despite their rich form, they found themselves in a tricky situation in the last fixture of super-eight stage against SSGC, whom he regards as the second-toughest team in the tournament.

“We were in trouble at one stage in the last match but we remained optimistic of making the tournament final for the first time, which we eventually did,” he said.

Meanwhile, HBL captain Abdur Rehman is hoping that his team gives their all against WAPDA.

“We have come this far which means we do have the potential to win the final too,” said Rehman. “Our boys have been playing well and I am sure they won’t let the team down in the final.”

HBL’s main man with the bat will be Inamul Haq, who has so far amassed 643 runs in the tournament, while their primary weapons in bowling remain skipper Rehman (28 wickets) and left-arm pacer Usman Khan, who has 35 wickets under his belt this season.

“We have a well-balanced batting and bowling line-up so we are confident that we will give WAPDA their toughest match of the tournament and also give our fans something to cheer about,” said Rehman.

The seasoned spinner also commented on the tournament authorities’ decision to abandon his team’s last match of the super-eight stage following a fire incident in Regent Plaza, which injured several opposing UBL players and handed HBL a finals berth.

“We wanted to qualify by winning our match but as UBL players were injured and disturbed, this was the best decision the management could make,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2016.

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