ISLAMABAD - Karachi Zebras beat Faisalabad Wolves by one run in the Faysal Bank Cup One-Day Tournament 2012-13 Third Round Pool B match played here at Pindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Wolves skipper, after winning the toss, invited Zebras to bat first in overcast conditions. Karachi were all out for 215 in 46 overs, Khurrum Manzoor once again batted superbly and scored a polished 56. Tariq Haroon made 37, Akbar-ur-Rehman 27 and Fakhar Zaman 22. Samiullah Niazi took 3 for 32, while Naseer Malik and Ehsan Adil grabbed two wickets each conceding 44 and 55 runs, respectively.
Wolves who were 180-7 in 43 overs, lost the match by just one run on D/L system. Zeeshan Butt played a gallant unbeaten knock of 67, but he failed to guide his team home. Khurrum Shahzad 32 and Ali Waqas 23 were other notable batsmen. Misbah Khan took 2 for 35.
In another Pool B match played between Islamabad Leopards and Abbottabad Falcons, Islamabad won the match by 20 runs on D/L system. Batting first, Islamabad made 275-9. Umair Khan remained unbeaten on 91. Raheel Majeed made 47 and Fahad Iqbal 26. Kamran Ghulam took 3 for 29 and Yasir Shah also chipped in with 2 for 38. Falcons could made 244-9 in 47.1 overs. Yasir Shah 66, Kamran Ghulam 60, Sajid Ahmed 50 and Adnan Raees 40 were main scorers. Raheel Majeed took 3 for 53 while Sajid Ali also grabbed 2 for 45.
In third Group B match, Peshawar Panthers comprehensively beat Lahore Lions by 80 runs at Gaddafi Stadium, to move up to second spot on the points table. Peshawar, after electing to bat, lost Israrullah for 4. Nawaz Ahmed (93) and wicketkeeper M Rizwan combined for 118 runs for the second wicket to stage a recovery. Further contributions from Rizwan (55), Iftikhar Ahmed (81) and Gauhar Ali (26) helped Peshawar to post 294-7. Aizaz Cheema had best figures of 5 for 61.
In reply, Lahore could not string together meaningful partnerships, as the top and middle-order struggled to keep pace with the soaring required run-rate. The innings was kept in check through the bowling of spinner M Adnan, who picked up 5 for 46, and Zohaib Khan, who picked up 3 for 33. Despite a late order hit-out from Asif Raza (30) and Agha Salman (42), Lahore folded for 214 in the 48th over.
In Group A action, a maiden century by Mansoor Amjad took Sialkot Stallions to a five-wicket win - and thereby top of the points table - over Multan Tigers in Ghari Khuda Baksh.
Multan's innings of 234 revolved around Sohaib Maqsood's 91. The rest of the batting, though, couldn't last long enough to provide him much-needed support. All six of the oppositions' bowlers were among the wickets. In reply, Sialkot struggled at 27 for 3, with offspinner Aamer Yamin taking two of those wickets. But Amjad and opener Yasir Aziz staged a recovery with 102 for the fourth wicket, before the later was dismissed for 66. Amjad found able support through Adeel Malik (44), which helped them get home in the 46th over. In another Group A match, an all-round show from Bahawalpur Stags took them to a convincing six-wicket win over Quetta Bears in Karachi. The foundation for the win was laid by seamer M Mudassar and spinner Faisal Elahi, who shared seven wickets between them to bowl the Bears out for 144, and an aggressive career-best knock of 93 by opener Imranullah Aslam.
A responsible 71 by Sami Aslam was backed up by a decent middle-order batting performance as Lahore Eagles defeated Hyderabad Hawks by four wickets in Hyderabad. This was the Hawks' first loss in the tournament, and the Eagles' first win. Eagles had a shaky start to their chase of 238, with two wickets falling early, but Jahangir Mirza, who scored 54, stuck with Aslam to put on a 111-run stand. Later, the captain and wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal also chipped in with a half-century, to help his side get home with two overs to spare.
Hyderabad, with a 132-run stand for the third wicket between Taj Wasan and Rizwan Ahmed, got to a commanding 173 for 2 at one stage in their innings. But the next eight wickets fell for 64 runs, as the middle and lower order crumbled. Wasan finished on 69, while Rizwan finished on 73. Adnan Rasool was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 28.