Karachi Blues won the Wills Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship Grade-I title when the five-day final against Peshawar at the National Stadium petered out into a tame draw here on Thursday.
Karachi Blues were declared winners of the coveted trophy on the basis of first innings lead.
On a lacklustre last day, Karachi Blues' second innings meandered along into the early part of the afternoon session on specific instructions from the KCCA hierarchy. When Asif Mujtaba finally called in his batsmen, Peshawar were set a meaningless target of 471 in 41 overs.
Had there been a sporting declaration immediately after Sohail Jaffer reached his century, we might have seen a more meaningful game of cricket with a minimum of 62 overs in Peshawar's second essay. The Blues could have even won the game outright emphatically so despite the loss of 306 minutes (or 76 overs) playing time due to rains and bad light over the previous four days of the match
But individual batting records perhaps were more important to the KCCA officials than anything else. As it proved, the proceedings on Thursday became an eyesore, even for the players. One felt sorry for the plight of Peshawarites, who were playing the final of a major domestic competition for the first time.
Sohail Jaffer duly reached his first century of the season 71 minutes after play began on the final morning and was immediately out for exactly 100, holing out to wide long-on. His 136-ball knock in 201 minutes was laced with 17 fours.
The Blues were leading by 399 runs when Sohail Jaffer got out and one expected an immediate closure of the innings so that the bowlers could have a decent go at the visiting batsmen in the remaining time. Instead, Manzoor Akhtar (58 in 125 minutes off 118 balls) and Zafar Iqbal (41 in 81 minutes off 64 balls) carried until the latter was bowled by part-time off-spin of Wajahatullah 35 minutes after the lunch interval.
In the remaining time, young left-arm medium-pacer Ali Raza, bowling into the breeze, prised out openers Jahangir Khan Sr and Wasim Yousufi in an impressive opening spell before Peshawar went into tea at 83 for two.
In the game's last session, Asmatullah and Moin-ul-Atiq made most of the innocuous bowling of Shoaib Muhammad, Asif Mujtaba and Shadab Kabir by opting for batting practice. And when Moin was caught in the slips for 55 (scored in 86 minutes off 84 balls with nine fours), the umpires pulled out the stumps for the final time.
In a brief ceremony, chief guest Waqar Hasan, the deposed treasurer of the Pakistan Cricket Board, gave away the trophy and cash prizes, given by official sponsors, Pakistan Tobacco Company. Rival captains Asif Mujtaba and Arshad Khan were presented with Rs. 48,000 and 24,000 respectively on behalf of their teams while man-of-the-match Azam Khan collected Rs. 4,800.
For the record, it is the 16th time that a Karachi team won the premier national cricket championship, the seventh occasion Karachi Blues won this title (their third in four seasons).