NBP Patrons' Cup: Results Summary

Tahir Mughal hit a match-winning unbeaten 118 to steer Sialkot to a stunning three-wicket victory over National Bank in a high scoring NBP Patron's Cup National One-day Cricket Tournament match at the Saga ground in Sialkot.

Tahir struck 10 boundaries and seven sixes in a 87-ball knock that helped the home team overhaul the banker's colossal 342 with three balls to spare. Tahir featured in a 91-run fifth wicket stand with Shahzad Malik who scored 81 off 61 balls with 12 boundaries and two sixes.

For the sixth wicket, Tahir put on 106 runs with Adeel Malik (31) as the bankers bowling, that included Waqar Younis, Shabbir Ahmed, Mohammad Sami and Qaiser Abbas struggled all the way to contain Tahir and his fellow batsmen. Waqar picked up three wickets for 62 runs from nine overs while Sami bagged two for 62.

Earlier, National Bank posted a mammoth 342 for eight with wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal hammering 19 boundaries and two sixes in his 102-ball 131. He added 186 runs for the second wicket with Salman Butt. Salman was unfortunate to miss a well deserved century when he was dismissed for 93 that came off 122 balls and included nine boundaries.

National Bank now have five points from four games in Group C. Their only chance of reaching the quarter-finals now lie on the possibility that Peshawar lose to Rawalpindi, KRL beat Sialkot and they win their match against Faisalabad. All the games will be played on Saturday.

Allied Bank maintained their unbeaten run in Group D when they defeated Pak PWD by 131 runs. They now have four wins from as many games.

Allied Bank, batting first, posted 319 for nine despite an excellent bowling effort from Riaz Sheikh who scooped up six wickets for 48 runs. For the bankers, opener Humayun Farhat was the top scorer with 74 while Usman Tariq hit 50. The two put on 109 runs for the first wicket. Pak PWD, in their turn, were skittled out for 188.

Lahore Whites overwhelmed Karachi Blues by 27 runs to pick up their third win from four matches. The hosts scored 226 for nine with Musharaf Ali top scoring with 68. For the tourists, Rizwan Qureshi bagged five wickets for 39 runs and later chipped in with 45 but failed to deny the home team victory.

In a close finish, Peshawar beat Faisalabad by two runs. The visitors, chasing home team's 237, required 12 runs from the last over but could score only nine.

Scores in brief:

LCCA ground, Lahore: Lahore Whites 226-9 in 50 overs (Musharaf Ali 68, Mohammad Hussain 44, Adnan Akmal 29 not out, Rizwan Qureshi 5-39, Rizwan Saeed 3-36) vs Karachi Blues 199 in 46.1 overs (Rizwan Qureshi 45, Rizwan Saeed 36, Wajid Ali 33, Tariq Haroon 26, Mansoor Baig 26, Mohammad Hussain 3-25, Wahab Riaz 2-26, Salman Qadir 2-36).
Lahore Whites beat Karachi Blues by 27 runs.

KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: Rawalpindi 152 (Sohail Nasir 42, Junaid Zia 20, Saeed Ajmal 4-20) vs KRL 153-2 in 30.5 overs (Saeed Anwar Junior 69 not out, Ali Naqvi 66).
KRL won by eight wickets.

Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: Peshawar 237 in 50 overs (Mohammad Fayyaz 74, Aftab Khan 51, Jan Nisar Khan 28 not out, Adnan Rasool 4-48, Tauqeer Hussain 3-53, Fida Hussain 2-27) vs Faisalabad 235-9 in 50 overs (Mohammad Saleem 72, Zeeshan Asif 62, Bilal Marwat 2-39, Mohammad Fayyaz 2-41).
Peshawar won by two runs.

Sheikhupura Stadium, Sheikhupura: Service Industries 263-9 in 50 overs (Farhan Asghar 59, Rehan Rafique 36, Nafees Ahmad 32 not out, Sufiyan Munir 31, Masood Asim 30, Saleem Mughal 2-35, Zakaullah 2-42) vs Sheikhupura 136 in 38.4 overs (Saleem Mughal 70, Fayyaz Ahmad 4-21, Bilal Khilji 2-33, Mohammad Irshad 2-44).
Service Industries won by 127 runs.

Gymkhana Ground, Okara: Allied Bank 319-9 in 50 overs (Humayun Farhat 74, Usman Tariq 50, Wajahatullah Wasti 48, Naved Latif 47, Aamir Hanif 41 not out, Riaz Sheikh 6-48) vs Pak PWD 188 in 47.1 overs (Ahmer Saeed 51, Faheem Ahmad 27, Rauf Akbar 26, Iqbal Imam 25, Saad Wasim 23, Ijaz Ahmad 3-21, Arshad Khan 3-33, Ata-ur-Rehman 2-39, Taimoor Khan 2-41).
Allied Bank won by 131 runs.

Saga ground, Sialkot: National Bank 342-8 in 50 overs (Kamran Akmal 131, Salman Butt 93, Imran Nazir 34, Naumanullah 24, Shaiman Anwar Butt 2-34, Faisal Khan 2-41, Shahid Khan 2-58, Tahri Mughal 2-58) vs Sialkot 346-7 in 49.3 overs (Tahir Mughal 118 not out, Shahzad Malik 81, Faisal Khan 48, Adeel malik 31, Waqar Younis 3-62, Mohammad Sami 2-62)
Sialkot won by three wickets.

Friday's fixtures: Wapda v Gujranwala at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; Habib Bank vs Sargodha at Sports Stadium, Sargodha; Multan v ZTBL at Multan Stadium, Multan.

Samiul Hasan
General Manager - Media
20 March 2003