Kaneria shines as HBL embarrass WAPDA

Sohail hits double hundred in drawn Quaid Trophy match against ZTBL.

Danish Kaneria and Fahad Masood shared eight wickets between them as Wapda were humiliated on the last day of their four-day Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match against HBL at the Diamond Ground in Islamabad.

Kaneria, in fantastic form having taken 35 wickets in just five games at an average of 18.02, took four for 46 as Wapda lost by an innings and 46 runs. HBL, who top the tables with 57 points after eight matches, scored a mammoth 509 for nine declared including two centuries, one by Shan Masood and Humayun Farhat’s 117. Courtesy the thrashing, Wapda slid down to second with 45 points after eight games.

Rawalpindi thrash Karachi Blues

Rawalpindi defeated Karachi Blues by eight wickets owed largely to a superb bowling performance by Rashid Latif and Sadaf Hussain.

Latif and Hussain took five wickets each as Blues, trailing by 95 runs in the first-innings, were dismissed for 195. Naved Malik then hit a quickfire 57 as Rawalpindi chased down the target in the 18th over at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

Islamabad humiliated

Aqeel Ahmed finished with four for 75 as Islamabad were sent packing for 204 to hand a 136-run win to Faisalabad at the Iqbal Stadium.

It was a remarkable comeback by the hosts, who were bundled out for 181 in the first-innings before dishing out a 46-run lead to Islamabad.

However, Mohammad Salman’s 100 and Ijaz Ahmed junior’s 94 helped set Islamabad a daunting 341 to win before Ahmed destroyed them with their bowling.

Sohail shines in draw

Haris Sohail scored a resolute double hundred as ZTBL were bowled out for 530 in an otherwise dull draw against NBP. The match, that had already seen Umar Amin and Naumanullah score hundreds in NBP’s total of 370, was always going to be a draw as Sohail remained unbeaten after facing 407 balls. He hit 32 fours in a composed knock of 211 before NBP faced three overs. And though only 20 wickets fell during the four days, Uzairul Haq took six for 70 for NBP after the tournament’s leading wicket-taker Mohammad Khalil (50) had taken five for 112 in the first innings.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2010.