A round-up of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Super Eights matches that ended on January 13
ESPNcricinfo staff13-Jan-2014Group AAn unbeaten century by 20-year-old Mehran Ibrahim and a career-best 12 for 162 by left-arm seamer Taj Wali were the two significant contributions in Peshwar’s hard-fought win against Karachi Whites in Peshawar. The home team had stumbled to 34 for 4 in chase of 211, but Ibrahim, playing only his fourth first-class game, changed the complexion of the game. His 135 for the fifth wicket along with Aimal Khan stemmed the collapse and brought Peshawar to within 42 runs of a win, which they achieved without any further loss. It was also Ibrahim’s maiden century; his 101 off 132 deliveries included 13 boundaries.Peshawar were behind by 31 runs after the first innings too – a reflection of the batsmen failing to respond to Wali’s six-wicket haul that had restricted Karachi to 253 after they were 121 for 1. Wali and seamer Azam Khan then ran through the Karachi top order in the second dig to reduce them to 28 for 5, but a rearguard half-century by Mohammad Hasan lifted Karachi to 179. However, Peshawar reached the target in the 55th over.Islamabad’s Sarmad Bhatti and Shehzad Azam’s 207-run stand for the last wicket was the highlight of their drawn match against Karachi Blue. Islamabad were staring at a sub-200 total in the first innings when they lost their ninth wicket for 160, but the two batsmen stretched the total to 367. Though a rarity, the stand – only the 12th instance in first-class cricket of the last two adding more than 200 – was still 31 less than the Pakistan first-class record of 239 and a whopping 100 less than the all-time record. By the time Azam was out for 91 – his personal best – with three fours and five sixes, Bhatti had racked up an unbeaten 147.Karachi Blue’s response was led by Fakhar Zaman’s century that gave the team a two-run lead. The two innings used up almost three days and Islamabad played out the last day scoring 325 for 9 despite a six-wicket haul by Usama Basharat.Group BAdnan Mehmood’s 101 on debut and seven wickets in the match from Haseeb Azam helped Rawalpindi beat Sialkot by nine wickets in Islamabad.Having chosen to field, Rawalpindi had Sialkot reeling at 39 for 6 before Salman Ali’s 64 from No. 8 and contributions of 44 and 23 from Ahmed Butt and Hasan Ali helped stretch their score to 194. Seamer Haseeb finished with four wickets and left-arm spinner Babar Naeem with three.Playing his maiden first-class innings, Rawalpindi opener Mehmood retired hurt with his team’s total 17 for 0, but returned to score a 210-ball 101 with 17 fours. Shoaib Nasir, Akhtar Ayub and Zahid Mansoor made half-centuries to help Rawalpindi score 375 and take a 181-run lead. Salman continued waging lonesome resistance for Sialkot, this time with his offspin, to achieve figures of 7 for 117.Sialkot were in danger of an innings defeat at 135 for 6, but Bilal Hussain’s 81 and Ahmed Butt’s 35 helped them to post 260 and set Rawalpindi a target of 80. Rawalpindi got there in 19.2 overs, losing just one wicket, Salman bowling Shoaib Nasir to finish with match figures of 8 for 150.Zeeshan Ashraf’s maiden first-class century formed the basis of Multan’s second-innings fightback which helped them earn a draw against Lahore Shalimar. Multan had conceded a lead of 162 runs, but Ashraf led a strong response, wiping out the deficit in a 170-run opening stand along with Usman Liaqat, who scored 69. Ashraf’s 112 took only 123 balls and included 18 fours and a six.Then Aamer Yamin further stretched Multan’s innings with his third first-class century that helped them post 448 and give Lahore a target of 287. The teams agreed on a draw in the fifth over of Lahore’s innings.It was a good result for Multan considering they were bowled out for 210 on the first day and were punished by Umar Siddiq, who scored an unbeaten 187 – his best first-class score. Multan’s left-arm spinner was the most successful bowlers across teams, picking up eight wickets in the match.