Quaid Trophy: Hammad takes 7 to hand Rawalpindi huge win

Batsmen flop again as Karachi Whites lose by an innings and 23 runs.

KARACHI: Discarded all-rounder Hammad Azam nudged the national selectors with his bowling skills by grabbing seven wickets as Rawalpindi trounced Karachi Whites by an innings and 23 runs in their first win in the Super Eight stage of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy at the Pindi Stadium yesterday.

The Whites, who were dismissed for just 69 runs after a five-wicket haul by Sohail Tanvir in the first innings, failed to recover in the second-innings, succumbing to their opponents inside two days of their four-day group A fixture.

Apart from Shahzaib Hasan, who struck 69 off 89 balls, including 12 fours and three sixes, the Whites batsmen failed to display any skills, with Rawalpindi compiling 292, securing a first-innings lead of 223.

Saeed Bin Nasir (29) and Khalid Latif were the other main contributors as the Whites were bundled out for 200 in the final innings to concede the massive defeat.

Hammad was their chief tormentor, claiming seven wickets for only 46 runs, completing match figures of nine off 53. Tanvir also grabbed two wickets to accumulate a total of seven from the fixture.

Earlier, Atif Ameer claimed figures of eight off 98 against Rawalpindi, but his performance was overshadowed by the Whites’ loss.

Malik solid in response to Islamabad

In another group A fixture, captain Shoaib Malik led Sialkot from the front as they finished the second day on 215 for five in reply to Islamabad’s first-innings total of 303 runs.

Malik remained unbeaten on 94, hitting 11 boundaries from 160 deliveries, while Shakeel Ansar (34) and Faisal Rasheed (29) were the other main scorers.

Earlier, Islamabad managed to add just 44 runs after resuming the day on 259 for five, with Rasheed securing a five-wicket haul for 71 runs.

Hyderabad eye innings lead

Meanwhile, Hyderabad will be looking to secure an innings lead over Lahore Ravi after amassing 584 in their first-innings in their group B match.

Centuries from Azeem Ghumman (107), Rizwan Ahmed (105) and Lal Kumar (109) inspired the side to a mammoth total.

However, Lahore Ravi replied with 171 for four with Adnan Akmal scoring an unbeaten 53 runs. In another match, Lahore Shalimar fought to build a grand target against the Karachi Blues. The hosts, who were bowled out for 137 in the first-innings, were on 252, securing a second-innings lead of 134 at stumps.

Earlier, the Karachi Blues were bowled out for 255 in their first-innings

Meanwhile, in a match for bottom six teams, Faisalabad forced Abbottabad Region to follow-on by dismissing their opponents for 203 after scoring 453 in their first innings.

However, Abbottabad had a better start in their second-innings, scoring 46 with any loss.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2013.