Northern reach top of points table after six-wicket win over Southern Punjab

Northern reach top of points table after six-wicket win over Southern Punjab

KARACHI (Web Desk) - Northern displaced Southern Punjab to claim the top spot on the points table with a six-wicket win on the final day of the sixth round of the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy at the UBL Sports Complex on Saturday.

Set 200 to win, Northern helped by half-centuries from Nasir Nawaz, Umar Amin and Hammad Azam reached the target in 41.5 overs.

The foundations for the victory were laid with a 97-run partnership between opener Nasir and Umar. The two had come together with the scorecard reading three for one.

Nasir top-scored with 68 off 80 balls (nine fours and two sixes) he was supported by Umar at the other end, who returned unbeaten on 65.

Following Nasir’s dismissal by Umar Khan, who took two wickets, Umar stitched another solid alliance with Hammad that took Northern over the line.

Umar and Hammad added 81 runs for their undefeated fifth-wicket stand, over the course of which Hammad brought up his sixth half-century of the season.

Hammad scored a blistering 53 as he crunched 10 boundaries over the course of his unbeaten 48-ball stay.

Following the defeat, Southern Punjab, who had been at the top of the points table since the start of the season, slipped to the third spot.

In the seventh round of the tournament, which commences on 8 December, Southern Punjab will face Balochistan in a broadcast fixture at the National Stadium, while Northern will face Central Punjab at the UBL Sports Complex.

At the National Stadium, Central Punjab, the title defenders, recorded their first win of the season as they inflicted a heavy 227-run defeat on Sindh in a contest which was broadcast on PTV Sports in Pakistan and beamed across the globe through PCB’s YouTube Channel.

Sindh were bowled out for 204 in an extended morning session with Shehzar Mohammad being the only batsman to put a notable resistance. The wicketkeeper-batsman scored 50 off 97 balls, hitting seven boundaries, to register his first-class career’s eight half-century.

Sindh began the morning on 152-4 with Shehzar and Mohammad Saad at the crease on 26 and 24, respectively. Saad could add only seven more runs to his overnight score before pacer Waqas Masqood, who followed up his brilliant 6-25 in the first innings with 3-49, dismissed him.

The pick of the bowlers for Central Punjab in the second innings was their captain Hasan Ali, who added three more wickets on Saturday morning.

The right-arm pacer took four wickets for 66 runs and his match returns were 5-114 from 32.5 overs.

Central Punjab bagged 24 crucial points – 16 for outright win, two for batting and six for bowling – from the match, while Sindh, captained by Asad Shafiq, pocketed only three bowling bonus points.

Central Punjab remain at the bottom of the points table with 54 points. However, their difference from the next best side, Sindh, is squeezed to nine points.

Sindh will now move to State Bank Stadium to play Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bagged 25 points and jumped to the second spot on the points table as they defeated Balochistan by 175 runs at the State Bank Stadium.

The Khalid Usman-captained side completed the victory in the morning session as Balochistan were bowled out for 224 after resuming the day on 164 for six.

Balochistan’s remaining four wickets lasted only 15.1 overs as Sameen Gul took two more wickets and Mohammad Wasim Jnr added another scalp to his tally. Both pacers finished the innings with three wickets each.

With 34 off 30 balls, which included four fours and two sixes, Jalat Khan was the only player from the batting side to resist Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bowlers before he was run out.

Balochistan, placed fourth before the start of this round, could gain only three points (all bonus points for bowling) from the match.