UBL inch closer to President’s Trophy final

Erstwhile domestic giants back to winning ways.

KARACHI: Once considered a force to be reckoned with, the years for UBL have rolled back again as they became league leaders in the President’s Trophy. They took their fifth consecutive win in the tournament after beating SBP by 122 runs at the UBL Sports Complex.

The team had been disbanded for nearly 10 years back in the late 1990s, and they struggled to breakout from the Patron’s Trophy Grade-II event when the squad was formed again in 2006.

They returned to first-class cricket in 2011-12 in order to chase their erstwhile golden days when they were deemed giants in first-class cricket after winning four Quaid-e-Azam Trophy titles, three Pentangular Cups, Patron’s Trophy and List A titles.

It should be mentioned that the likes of former captains Rashid Latif, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, Mansoor Akhtar, Mushtaq Ahmed, Azhar Ahmed, Saleem Jaffar, Tauseef Ahmed and several other international players represented the team in the golden era before it was dissolved due to privatisation of the bank.

UBL now have 54 points from nine matches followed by defending champions SNGPL (49) and NBP (44).

On day three, UBL started the proceedings on 192 for five before being dismissed for 254 in 88.1 overs. Abid Ali top-scored with 73 while Tabish Khan and Mohammad Naveed picked up five and four wickets respectively.

Set a target of 257, SBP were all out for 134 in 43.1 overs as the trio of Atif Maqbool, Kashif Bhatti and Tariq Haroon claimed three wickets apiece.

Captain Maqbool, who ended up with eight wickets was delighted with his team’s show.

“Ever since I have taken charge of the team, my aim was to create an atmosphere for players where they can feel relaxed and perform to best of their abilities,” Maqbool told The Express Tribune. “We are close to the final and I hope we make it as it’s important for the department to taste success as it did back in its golden years.”

Ghani defies PQA with unbeaten 157

Left-handed batsman Sheryar Ghani scored an unbeaten 157 off 266 balls with four sixes and 14 boundaries as PIA stayed strong at 398 for seven while replying to PQA’s mammoth total of 500 at the Southend Club.

Meanwhile, NBP defeated PTV by an innings and 53 runs to keep their final hopes alive.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17^th, 2014.

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