Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) won the day-night games in the fifth round of the President’s Cup.
The sixth and penultimate round of the tournament will take place on Thursday, December 18, at four venues in Karachi, with SBP v WAPDA and PTV v SNGPL being the day-night fixtures.
KRL registered their third win of the tournament, beating Pakistan Television by 71 runs at the Naya Nazimabad Ground. KRL’s top four batters did the bulk of the scoring in their total of 283-7 in 50 overs, with only Waqar Ahmed (47) falling short of a half-century.
Shahzaib Khan – who fell 13 runs short of his maiden List A century – did well to put on a 99-run opening stand with Saad Baig (51). In all, Shahzaib faced 107 balls, striking five fours and four sixes during his stay at the crease.
Following Saad’s departure, Waqar Ahmed joined forces with Shahzaib to stitch a 92-run stand before PTV struck four blows as KRL went from 191-1 to 199-6, losing five for eight in 27 balls. It was at this juncture that skipper Iftikhar Ahmed (63 not out) took it upon himself to propel his team to a competitive score, stitching a 63-run stand with Ahmad Hassan (19). For PTV, Faisal Akram, Ali Usman and Ahmed Daniyal picked up two wickets each.
In turn, PTV struggled to find feet in the chase as they first slipped to 77-4 in 20.4 overs. Taimur Khan (68) and Yasir Khan (60) brought a semblance of stability with a 64-run stand, which soon perished as KRL lost their next wickets for 63 runs.
Arshad Iqbal’s figures of 9.1-1-41-4 coupled with Sufyan Moqim’s three for 41, proved fatal for PTV as they bagged their third loss in five games in the tournament.
OGDCL continued their winning ways with a fifth consecutive triumph in the tournament as they beat Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited by five wickets at the National Bank Stadium, Karachi.
Opening batter Imam-ul-Haq slammed his second consecutive century in the tournament, and 16th in his List A career, as OGDCL chased the 244-run target with 21 balls to spare. Imam remained unbeaten for 129 off 118 balls, hitting 13 fours and two sixes as five wickets fell around him during the chase.
OGDCL slipped to 109-4 before Imam and Danish Aziz (49) dug deep, fetching 115 runs in 20.3 overs. Mohammad Sarwar Afridi remained unbeaten on 12. SNGPL’s Sajid Khan finished with two for 43 in his 10 overs.
Earlier, SNGPL found themselves struggling at 111-5 after opting to bat first, with Kamran Ghulam falling one short of his half-century as he was run out by Imam. Muhammad Shahzad (65) and Muhammad Awais Zafar (29) then stitched a 73-run stand to take their team closer to the 200-run mark.
Sajid Khan (18) and Mohammad Salman (16 not out) made sure SNGPL had a fighting total on the board as they finished with 243-9 in 50 overs. OGDCL’s pacers Mohammad Amir Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed picked up two wickets each.
