LAHORE - Umar Akmal added a half century to his first innings century on Saturday to help Habib Bank Limited (HBL) survive a late charge of victory by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and lift the coveted four day Quaid-e-Azam Trophy at UBL Sports Complex in Karachi.

SNGPL, led by the most successful Test captain of Pakistan Misbahul Haqa, added some quick runs and then ran through HBL top order with some brisk wickets to give them a chance but failed to get a victory. The match ended in a draw and the HBL won the final by virtue of their first innings lead.

SNGPL resumed their innings on the last day of the final on 336-5 with Imran Khalid playing on 41 and Misbah on 14. SNGPL batsmen, knowing only a win is the option, got off to a speedy start with both batsmen tried to score briskly. Imran Khalid was out when he reached on 73 after trying to hit another big shot that ended in Akmal’s hand off the bowling of Abdul Rehman. Imran hit four sixes and three fours in his 48-ball innings. On the other end, Bilawal Bahtti joined the skipper and made the Test match a Twenty20 one. He hit three sixes and two fours to muster 30 important quick runs off just 11 balls before getting out. Misbah was not out at that time on 44 off 35 balls including five boundaries and decided to declare the innings on 430-7 to give his bowlers ample score and time to go for a victory by setting a target of 263 runs.

HBL’s reply was not too bright as first innings centurion Abid Ali fell LBW to Asad Ali in the seventh over with 32 runs on the board. The wickets continue to tumble at steady rate before Umar steadied the HBL’s ship and played a resolute 52 runs innings to help his team earn a draw and eventually the title. Bilawal was equally lethal with the ball as well as he claimed three wickets and Iftikhar Ahmed got two. But HBl batsmen through their handy contributions survived the day and were 183-6 in 78.2 overs when umpires called it a day due to bad light. HBL captain Imran Farhat and Pakistan all-rounder Fahim Ashraf remained unbeaten on 22 and 8 runs, respectively. Imran negotiated 92 balls for his 22. Another bizarre but brilliant innings came from Rameez Aziz who simply frustrated SNGPL bowlers with his almost scoreless long stay on the crease. Rameez did a job well done to ensure safety for his team as he consumed 55 balls but scored just two runs before getting out in 73rd over.

Umar Akmal was named player of the final. Peshwar Regions wicketkeeper Gohar Ali was named Outstanding Player of the tournament as well as Best Wicket-keeper. Best Bowler of the tournament went to Aizaz Cheema of Lahore Region Blues who claimed 59 wickets in the event while Khurram Manzoor of Karachi Region Whites was the Best Batsman of the tournament with 886 Runs.

Prize Money:

Winners:                                                      HBL Rs 3 million

Runner-Up:                                                SNGPL Rs 2 million

Best Player of the Final:                      Umar Akmal, HBL Rs 100,000

Best Bowler of the tournament:     Aizaz Cheema, Lahore Region Blues (59 Wickets) Rs 100,000

Best Batsman of the tournament:  Khurram Manzoor, Karachi Region Whites (886 Runs) Rs 100,000

Best Wicket-Keeper/ OutstandingPlayer of the Tournament: Gohar Ali, Peshawar Region Rs 100,000

Scorecard

AT UBL SPORTS COMPLEX, KARACHI

SNGPL: (First innings) 304 all out in 110.2 overs(Misbah-ul-Haq 91, 184 balls, 11x4s, 1x6, Khurram Shahzad 47, 118 balls, 8x4s, Muhammad Imran 40, 88 balls, 4x4s, Ali Waqas 38, 82 balls, 6x4s, Bilawal Bhatti 25*, 31 balls, 5x4s, Adnan Akmal 22, 25 balls, 4x4s, Abdur Rehman 4-90, Khurram Shahzad -65, Agha Salman 2-42)

2nd innings: 430-7 decl in 78.3 overs (Imran Butt 95, 125 balls, 13x4s, Ali Waqas 65, 136 balls, 6x4s, Iftikhar Ahmed 52, 42 balls, Imran Khalid 73, 48 balls, 3x4s, 4x6s, Khurram Shehzad 40, 3x4s, 48 balls, Misbah ul Haq 44*, 35 balls, 5x4s, Bilawal Bhatti 30, 11 balls, 2x4s, 3x6s, Abdul Rahman 4-156)

HBL (First innings) 472 all out in 160.5 overs (Abid Ali 134, 315 balls, 17x4s, Umer Akmal 113, 161 balls, 16x4s, Agha Salman 56, 177 balls, 7x4s, Ramiz Aziz 58*, 136 balls, 4x4s, Fahim Ashraf 23, 39 balls, 3x4s, Farhat 20, 39 balls, 3x4s, Khurram Shahzad 2-14, Bilawal Bhatti 2-110)

2nd innings: 183-6 in 78.2 overs ( Umar Akmal 52, 85 balls, 8x4s, Jamal Anwar 31, 68 balls, 4x4s, Bilawal Bhatti 3-46, Iftikhar Ahmed 2-18

Result: Match Drawn (HBL won the match on 1stinnings lead)

Overnight: SNGPL (Second innings) 336-5 in 69.5 overs

Toss: SNGPL

Umpires: Muhammad Asif and Faisal Afridi

TV Umpire: Waleed Yaqoob

Reserve Umpire: Khalid Mahmood Sr.

Referee: Shahid Butt

Official Scorer: Wasim Abbas