Awais Abbas of Southern Punjab Whites and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whites’ Ismail Khan bowled their sides to thumping victories on the third and final day in first round matches of the National U19 Championship.
Awais returned figures of 17-2-87-6 as Southern Punjab Whites defeated Northern Whites by 84 runs at the Country Club in Muridke. Set a victory target of 304, Northern Whites were dismissed for 219 with Syed Hashim Mir Ali finishing as the top scorer with 54.
With a 128-run first innings already under the belt, Southern Punjab Whites had resumed their second innings at 138 for one and declared at 175 for three. Aun Shahzad (78) and Mohammad Shehzad (75) were the notable run-scorers, while Jahandad Khan took two wickets for 49 runs.
At the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot, Ismail Khan notched up figures of 19.4-5-31-5 and Ayaz Khan followed up his three for 23 with four for 29 as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whites routed Balochistan Whites by 10 wickets.
Balochistan Whites, trailing by 83 runs on first innings and resuming Tuesday’s play at 10 for one, were dismissed for 135 with only Mohammad Nasir offering some resistance with 44. Needing 52 to collect maximum points, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Whites raced to victory in 7.5 overs without losing a wicket with Abdullah Zareen scoring 40 not out with seven fours from 30 balls. Central Punjab Whites and Sindh Whites match at the Jinnah Stadium in Gujranwala ended in a draw. After conceding a 129-run first innings and starting the day at 49 for no loss, Central Punjab Whites finished at 271 for seven with half-centuries from Usman Nadeem (74) and Hassan Hameed (72). For Sindh, Adeel Meo (three for 48) and Abdul Rehman (two for 54) shared wickets. A match haul of 10 wickets by Khawaja Mohammad Hafeez was not enough for Sindh Blues as their match against Central Punjab Blues ended in a draw at the at the National Ground, Islamabad.
Khawaja Hafeez followed up his 15-5-32-5 in the first innings with 20-4-51-5 as Central Punjab, after conceding the slimmest first innings lead of one run, managed to declare their second innings at 178 for nine that resolved around 55 by Hasnaat Abbas and Mohammad Waqas’s 35. Needing 178 for victory, Sindh finished at 139 for five with Abdullah Fazal scoring 32, Talha Ahsan contributing 22 not out and Rizwan Mahmood chipping with 21, while Ali Asfand claimed three wickets for 42 runs.
Only one innings was possible at Rawalpindi’s Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, where Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Blues and Balochistan Blues match ended in a draw. After Monday’s play was washed out due to a wet outfield, KPK Blues resume their first innings at 251 for eight and were all out for 266. In turn, Balochistan Blues were bundled out for 123 with Ahmed Khan returning figures of 13.1-8-10-5 and Zeeshan Ahmed picking up three for 24.
Same was the story at the Shalimar Cricket Ground in Islamabad where no play was possible on Monday. On Tuesday, Northern Blues declared their first innings at the overnight score of 298 for five and managed to dismiss Southern Punjab Blues for 179 with Mehram Mumtaz scooping four for 40 and Aseer Mughal and Faraz Khan picking up two wickets apiece.
