Sports

Quaid-e-Azam Trophy: UBL’s fast-bowlers bring about Islamabad’s downfall

Hosts’ batting blown away on final day in innings defeat

Our Correspondent October 29, 2015

The tie between Hyderabad and Port Qasim was one of the more enthralling contests of round one but it ended in a draw. PHOTO: INP

KARACHI:

Mir Hamza’s eight wickets guided UBL to a comprehensive innings-and-120-run win over Islamabad on the final day of the opening round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy at the Diamond Ground in Islamabad on Thursday.

Islamabad resumed their first innings on 88-6 and were only able to add 23 runs to their first innings total and finished on 111 in reply to the away side’s 399 as Mir Hamza took 5-30. The pacer was ably supported by fellow fast-bowlers Ehsan Adil and Rumman Raees, who took 2-23 and 2-35 respectively.

Islamabad were asked to follow-on and once again crumbled against the pace trio to be dismissed for 168. Adil was the pick of the bowlers in the second innings with 4-47, while Hamza claimed 3-49 and Raees 2-37.

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UBL’s win was made all the more sweeter by the rained out first day, which meant they had to get a result inside three days. “Everyone expected it to be a draw till day two, but we doubled our efforts once Islamabad began to lose wickets quickly,” Mir told The Express Tribune.

At the LCCA ground, Ziaul Haq took seven Lahore Whites wickets for NBP to guide them to an innings-and-12-run win.

Lahore Whites resumed their second innings on 145-3, trailing by 85 runs but lost their remaining seven batsmen for just 73 more runs.

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NBP had managed to score a commanding 408 as captain and wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal led from the front with a 140.

“I may have scored a century but the damage was done by the bowlers in the first innings,” said Kamran.

Draws galore in round one

At the Niaz Stadium, Shahzaib Hassan scored a century against Hyderabad to take Port Qasim just 96 runs away from a win but stumps came too quickly for the departmental side to start off with a win.

At the Gaddafi Stadium, SSGC were 52-1 at stumps as they chased a gettable 266-run target against Lahore Blues.

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At the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot, Fata were 114-3 chasing 303.

Three matches — Peshawar v SNNGPL, Karachi Whites v Wapda and Rawalpindi v KRL— weren’t even able to make it to the fourth innings.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2015.

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