Shahzaib shines as rain, draws stall President’s Trophy

Khan Research Laboratories’ Shahzaib Khan provided the standout finish to an opening round dominated by big scores, determined batting and weather interruptions, as all four President’s Trophy Grade-I matches ended in a draw on Tuesday.

Shahzaib struck an unbeaten 103 off 102 balls, his fourth first-class century, to help KRL declare their second innings at 215 for two and set Ghani a daunting 456-run target at Imran Khan Cricket Stadium, Peshawar.

The aggressive knock, which included ten fours and a six, came after KRL had already posted 547 for nine in their first innings, with Imran Rafiq and Fakhar Zaman making centuries. Fakhar added 77 in the second innings, sharing a 152-run opening stand with Shahzaib.

Ghani, however, showed enough resistance to deny KRL victory. They reached 207 for four in 60 overs, with debutant Mirza Tahir Baig scoring 79 from 166 balls and Mohsin Riaz remaining unbeaten on 37. Earlier, Haseebullah narrowly missed a century, scoring 99.

The Abbottabad contest was another high-scoring affair, with Kingsmen Academy's Salman Ali Agha producing the round's biggest individual innings. His unbeaten 300 helped Kingsmen reach 565 for seven, while Mohammad Suleman contributed 115.

MIT Solutions were forced to follow on after being dismissed for 330, but fought back impressively. Mohammad Farooq scored 67 after his first-innings 117, while Bismillah Khan and Samama Riaz made 53 and an unbeaten 67 respectively. MIT eventually set a target of 150, but Kingsmen lost three wickets for 45 before the match ended.

Bowling had its moments too. Haris Rauf claimed five for 34 and Faisal Akram four for 51 as OGDCL were dismissed for 204 against PTV in Islamabad. PTV had earlier posted 400, led by Mohammad Taha's 134. OGDCL reached 64 for three in their second innings before rain wiped out the final day's play.

At the Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Kashif Bhatti's six for 40 restricted SNGPL to 188 after SBP were dismissed for 158. Hasan Raza then struck 103 and Faham-ul-Haq remained unbeaten on 78 as SBP built a strong second innings position. Rain again prevented a finish.

With no outright winners in any match, the points table remains tightly packed. PTV lead with 14 points, followed by KRL and Kingsmen Academy on 13. SBP and SNGPL are just one point further back on 12, while OGDCL have eight and MIT Solutions and Ghani seven each.

The second round begins on Friday giving the leading sides an immediate opportunity to turn promising starts into decisive results.

Summarised scores (end of first round)  

Match 1 – Khan Research Laboratories v Ghani at Imran Khan Cricket Stadium, Peshawar 

Match Drawn

Target for Ghani – 456 

KRL 547-9, 122.4 overs (Imran Rafiq 129, Fakhar Zaman 128, Asim Ali Nasir 87, Shaheen Shah Afridi 47, Mohammad Junaid 43, Shahzaib Khan 36, Abdul Faseeh 26, Iftikhar Ahmed 23; Ghulam Haider 4-119, Mohammad Wasim Jnr 3-129) and 215-2 dec, 29 overs (Shahzaib Khan 103 not out, Fakhar Zaman 77, Mohammad Faiq 21 not out) 

Ghani 306 all out, 81.5 overs (Haseebullah 99, Sharjeel Khan 59, Ali Razzaq 52, Mirza Tahir Baig 34; Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-61, Iftikhar Ahmed 2-62, Arshad Iqbal 2-75) and Ghani 207-4, 60 overs (Mirza Tahir Baig 79, Sharjeel Khan 44, Mohsin Riaz 37 not out, Khawaja Arham 37; Mohammad Faiq 2-21)

Match 2 – Markhor IT Solutions v Kingsmen Academy at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium

Match Drawn

Target for Kingsmen Academy – 150 

Kingsmen Academy 565-7, 131.1 overs (Salman Ali Agha 300 not out, Mohammad Suleman 115, Mohammad Shayan 34, Azan Tariq 31, Mohammad Huraira 30, Mohammad Arshad 27; Salman Aslam 2-70) and 45-3, 9 overs (Mohammad Tayyab Arif 15 not out; Mohammad Ismail 3-22) 

MIT Solutions 330 all out, 76.5 overs (Mohammad Farooq 117, Bismillah Khan 39, Atiq-ur-Rehman 36, Muhammad Riazullah 30, Samama Riaz 23, Salman Aslam 22; Akif Javed 6-79, Mehran Mumtaz 2-50, Muhammad Umar 2-52) and (f/0) 384 all out, 86.2 overs (Samama Riaz 67 not out, Mohammad Farooq 67, Bismillah Khan 53, Salman Khan Jnr 42, Atiq-ur-Rehman 38, Zahid Mansoor 24, Hasnain Nadeem 24, Muhammad Riazullah 20; Mehran Mumtaz 3-100, Muhammad Umar 2-51, Azan Tariq 2-60) 

Match 3 – Pakistan Television v Oil and Gas Development Company Limited at Diamond Cricket Ground, Islamabad 

Match Drawn – No play on day four 

PTV 400 all out, 106.1 overs (Mohammad Taha 134, Sharoon Siraj 92, Waqar Hussain 42, Amad Butt 37, Muhammad Shahzad 21; Danish Aziz 3-60, Mohammad Amir Khan 2-68) 

OGDCL 204 all out, 64 overs (Mohammad Hammad Khan 43, Mohammad Irfan 35, Rohail Nazir 28, Saad Khan 27, Danish Aziz 27; Haris Rauf 5-34, Faisal Akram 4-51) and (f/o) 64-3, 19 overs (Saad Khan 42, Ali Zaryab 20 not out; Israr Hussain 2-15) 

Match 4 – State Bank of Pakistan v Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited at Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi 

Match Drawn – No play on day four 

SBP 158 all out, 62.2 overs (Mubasir Khan 62 not out; Ahmad Safi Abdullah 3-44, Khan Zeb 3-48, Shehzad Gul 2-28) and 190-1, 58 overs (Hasan Raza 103, Faham-ul-Haq 78 not out) 

SNGPL 188 all out, 68.1 overs (Omair Bin Yousuf 49, Abdul Samad 33, Muhammad Awais Zafar 26, Sameer Minhas 24; Kashif Bhatti 6-40, Sirajuddin 2-62)