Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) registered their sixth win on the trot as they beat Sahir Associates by three wickets at the UBL Sports Complex in Karachi on Thursday in the sixth round of the President’s Cup Grade-I.
Ghani Glass won the other day fixture of the sixth round, beating Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) at the KCCA Stadium.
The day-night fixtures between Pakistan Television (PTV) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) at National Bank Stadium and between State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) are underway.
The last and seventh round of the tournament will take place on Saturday, December 20, at the same venues, with the National Bank Stadium and Naya Nazimabad Ground games being day-night fixtures.
OGDCL chased the 279-run target set by Sahir Associates with 27 balls to spare, and Danish Aziz was unbeaten on 55 off 59 balls with the help of five fours and one six. Danish had put on a 65-run stand for the sixth wicket with Umar Siddiq, who changed the tempo of the chase with a 33-ball 40, hitting five fours and a solitary six.
Opening batter Maaz Sadaqat got off to a flying start, hitting 11 fours in his 30-ball 50 in a 47-run opening stand with Imam-ul-Haq, who only added 11. After Maaz’s departure, Abbas Ali (68) and Raja Hamza Waheed (40) came together to add 64 runs for the third wicket, laying the ground for a successful chase.
Earlier, Sahir Associates gathered 148 runs for one wicket before sliding to a 117 for eight collapse on their way to post 278-9 in 50 overs. Skipper Asim Ali Nasir and Faham-ul-Haq stitched a 143-run second-wicket stand after Fahad Usman fell for a 15-ball duck to player of the match Mohammad Huzaifa.
Asim’s 88 came off 97 balls with the help of 13 fours, while Faham scored his 60 off 78 balls, hitting six fours and one six. Following their departure with score on 148 and 158, contributions from Mohammad Afzal (30), Khawaja Abdullah (26) and Mohammad Faiq (24) kept the scorecard ticking, but Sahir were unable to make the most of the platform provided by Asim and Faham.
For OGDCL, Huzaifa returned figures of 10-1-57-4, while skipper Adil Amin dismissed two batters.
At the KCCA Stadium, Ghani Glass’ Zafar Gohar wreaked havoc with the ball, taking outstanding figures of six for 21 to restrict KRL to 165 all out in 41.2 overs as they fell 35 runs short.
KRL’s spectacular collapse included losing all ten wickets for a mere 42 runs after Shahzaib Khan (52) and Saad Baig (45) had put on a 107-run opening stand. Apart from Zafar’s career best List A figures, skipper Noman Ali chipped in with two wickets, while Mohammad Rameez Jnr and Ubaid Shah struck once each.
Ghani Glass too suffered a batting collapse of 98-9 from being 102-1 to 200 all out after being put in to bat first by KRL. Following Yahya Bin Abdul Rehman’s early departure, Sharjeel Khan (58) and Mohsin Riaz (32) stitched an 85-run stand.
Tayyab Tahir (33), Hussain Talat (26) and Hammad Butt (20) got starts but were unable to convert them.
KRL’s left-arm wrist-spinner Sufyan Moqim tightened the screws around Ghani Glass batters with the best bowling figures in his List A career (4-22), eclipsing his previous best of 4-52 on ODI debut against South Africa in Johannesburg.
