LAHORE  -  Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Iftikhar Ahmed, Naseerullah Khan and Umar Amin struck centuries while Faisal Akram and Mohammad Imran Jnr picked up five-wicket hauls in the third round of the President’s Cup. In the Group A fixtures, KRL beat HEC and WAPDA achieved victory over SBP. The matches in Group B saw PTV defeating Ghani Glass whereas Eshaal Associates beat OGDCL. At the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad, KRL romped to an eight-wicket win over HEC, chasing the 223-run target in just 36.3 overs with the help of Naseerullah Khan’s 108. Earlier, KRL’s Mohammad Imran Jnr dented the HEC batting with figures of 6-45 as they were bundled out for 222 in 48.3 overs. Uzair Mumtaz (50) and Waseem Akram Jnr (47) pushed their team towards a fighting total.In turn, Naseerullah, who hit 14 fours and one six in his 111-ball outing, stitched a 124-run opening partnership with Maaz Sadaqat (64) as KRL cruised to the target with 81 balls to spare. In the second match of Group A, WAPDA beat SBP by 11 runs on DLS method. After WAPDA were invited to bat first, Iftikhar Ahmed struck his 11th List-A century scoring a career-best 154 not out off 81 balls, hitting 17 fours and seven sixes to propel WAPDA to 379-4 in 50 overs.Iftikhar shared an unbroken 125-run fifth-wicket stand with Ayaz Tasawar (51*). Hashim Ibraheem (75) and Mohammad Arif (61) also chipped in with vital contributions. In reply, SBP captain Umar Amin, batting at No. 3, struck an unbeaten 182 off 141 balls hitting 21 fours and three sixes. SBP were 344-8, requiring 36 runs off the last three overs before play was stopped due to bad light leaving them 11 runs behind the par score. Khushdil Shah picked up three wickets while Iftikhar dismissed two batters. WAPDA lead Group A with three wins out of three. The second-round fixture between SBP and KRL, which was postponed on 5 October, will now take place on 9 October at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. In Group B, PTV and Eshaal Associates occupy the top two positions in Group B, respectively.The fourth-round fixtures of the President’s Cup will take place on 9 October.

Scores in Brief

KRL 223-2, 36.3 overs (Naseerullah Khan 108, Maaz Sadaqat 64) beat HEC 222 all out, 48.3 overs (Uzair Mumtaz 50, Waseem Akram Jnr 47; M Imran Jnr 6-45, Shahid Aziz 2-45) by 8 wickets.
WAPDA 379-4, 50 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 154*, Hashim Ibraheem 75, Mohammad Arif 61; Saqib Khan 2-66, Mohammad Abbas 2-79) beat SBP 344-8, 47 overs (Umar Amin 182*, M Irfan Khan 56; Khushdil Shah 3-68, Iftikhar Ahmed 2-46) by 11 runs.
PTV 169-1, 25.5 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 69*, Sahibzada Farhan 69*) beat GHANI GLASS 166 all out, 38.2 overs (Hussain Talat 72, Tayyab Tahir 67; Faisal Akram 5-24, Jahandad Khan 2-27, M Hasnain 2-35) by 9 wickets.
ESHAAL ASSOCIATES 297-5, 47 overs (Abdul Wahid Bangalzai 103, Haider Ali 81*, Afaq Ahmed 44*) beat OGDCL 295-8, 50 overs (Abbas Ali 86, M Hammad Khan 67; M Sudais 2-26, Nisar Ahmad 2-45) by 5 wickets.