LAHORE – Azan Awais registered a maiden double-century as Sialkot defeated Peshawar by an innings and 57 runs with a day to spare in their triangular stage match on Thursday.
Azan carried his bat for an unbeaten 203 after resuming the third day’s play at 161. Sialkot were eventually bowled out for 410, having started the day at 319 for six and adding another 91 runs to their overnight total in reply to Peshawar’s 171.
Trailing by 239 runs on the first innings, Peshawar were routed for 182 with fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar proving to be the wrecker-in-chief with figures of six for 51. This gave him match figures of eight for 101. Mohammad Ali also used the conditions to his advantage by following up his four for 35 with three for 43.
For Peshawar, Sajjad Ibraheem (42) and Niaz Khan (35) offered some resistance.
Azan, the 20-year-old opener batted for just over nine-and-a-half hours, facing 407 deliveries and striking 27 fours. Azan’s performance took his tournament tally to 518 runs, placing him second only to Multan’s Imam-ul-Haq, who has 635 runs. With Multan not participating in the triangular series, Azan has an excellent chance to finish as the leading run-scorer of the competition.
Azan’s innings featured three noteworthy partnerships on Wednesday. On Thursday, he added another 60 runs for the seventh wicket with Usama Mir, who contributed 29 off 57 balls. Later, he put on 40 runs for the eighth wicket with Mohammad Ali (16) to further consolidated Sialkot’s advantage.
Mohammad Amir Khan was the standout bowler for Peshawar, claiming his second five-wicket haul of the tournament. He added the scalps of last man Shoaib Akhtar to return figures of 40.1-4-141-5, taking his tally to 26 wickets in the event. This places him in joint-third among the leading wicket-takers, alongside Lahore Whites’ Ahmed Bashir. Islamabad’s Musa Khan leads the charts with 38 wickets, followed by Lahore Blues’ Mohammad Abbas and Bahawalpur’s Mehran Sanwal, who have 31 wickets each.
Israrullah and Niaz Khan chipped in with two wickets apiece, conceding five and 101 runs, respectively.
