By Khalid H. Khan
KARACHI, Dec 11: Reigning champions Habib Bank Limited (HBL) seized the initiative on the opening day of the five-day final of the Patron's Trophy Grade-I National Cricket Championship after Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) crashed to a paltry 86 all out at the National Stadium here on Friday.
However, ADBP staged some sort of a fight back when they reduced HBL to 131 for five in their first innings by stumps.
The pitch, which is offering uneven bounce at times, played a few tricks as the batsmen groped for survival. As many as 15 wickets fell for 217 runs.
ADBP were asked to bat first on a pitch that has become a paradise for the pace bowlers this season after HBL skipper Akram Raza won the crucial toss. His decision paid off handsomely as ADBP's batsmen came and went one after another in a procession until the entire team were sent packing ten minutes after the one hour lunch-cum-prayers break.
Test left-arm pace bowler Kabir Khan was the star of the day with splendid analysis of five for 37 in 14.3 overs to take his season's haul to 54 scalps. He began the slide by dismissing Zahoor Elahi, Inam-ul-Haq (first ball) and Imran Abbas in the space of six deliveries as ADBP lost four wickets for two runs.
Hafiz Majid top scored with an 83-ball 25 in 106 minutes with four boundaries. Apart from him, only Imran (15) and the left-handed Javed Hayat (16) managed to reach double figures.
Four of the ADBP batsmen, including skipper Mansoor Rana, failed to score. In the three-hour first session, ADBP could muster 83 for the loss of eight wickets in 41 overs.
Kabir was superbly supported by Sajid Shah, who surprisingly came on first change despite claiming 11 wickets in HBL's victory over PIA in the last league match on the same ground earlier in the week. Sajid claimed three for 13 in 11 overs.
All-rounder Asadullah Butt chipped in with two for eight in five overs as HBL never allowed ADBP to get on top of the bowling at any stage. The bowlers were helped by neat catching in the close cordon.
HBL made a bright start with openers Taufiq Umar, who scored 23 off as many balls with four fours, and Moin-ul-Atiq putting on 38 in 30 minutes before both went in quick successions to medium-pacer Tahir Mughal.
Moin-ul-Atiq, HBL's leading scorer this season, looked clearly unhappy when umpire Riazuddin adjudged him LBW for 15.
Asadullah Butt and Farhan Adil took HBL into the lead as the pair added 56 for the third wicket - the highest partnership of the day in 90 minutes. Asadullah departed after making 41 off 86 balls with six hits to the fence while Farhan threw his wicket in an indiscreet fashion when he played right across a straight delivery from Azhar Abbas and saw his off-stump uprooted.
ADBP might have come off the field in a happier frame of mind had Shahid Afridi been held off the very first ball he faced from Tahir. But Imran Abbas, at third slip, could not hold onto a relatively simple catch.
The swashbuckling Pakistan all-rounder rode his luck to smash a massive six over wide long-on off the luckless Tahir to end the day on 24 off 25 balls. Shahid also struck three fours in his stay of 31 minutes.
Tahir Mughal ended the day with three for 62 while Azhar Abbas and Mohammad Ali took one wicket.
Day 3: HBL retain Patron's Trophy with emphatic win
By Khalid H. Khan
KARACHI, Dec 13: Habib Bank Limited (HBL) completed a comprehensive innings and 21 runs victory over Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan (ADBP) to retain the Patron's Trophy Grade-I National Cricket Championship at the National Stadium here on Sunday.
HBL, who clinched their seventh title, won with two full days and more than two sessions to spare after completing the job in just 75 minutes on the third morning.
There was nothing in the pitch to indicate that it was a batsmen's nightmare except that there was a fair amount of moisture on the surface at the start of the match. In such conditions, the toss was always the deciding factor and once they lost it, ADBP never recovered as they crumbled for 86 in their first knock in little over three hours on the opening day.
Sajid Shah, a right-arm seamer, claimed three more wickets today to finish with five for 64. The 24-year-old Mardan-born speedster, who captured 90 first-class wickets last season, took his tally to 47 in eight matches this season.
Kabir Khan, the Test left-arm pacer, ended the match by having last man Azhar Abbas caught by Moin-ul-Atiq at mid-on. Kabir's three for 74 in this innings lifted his haul to 57 wickets, which makes him the leading bowler this season.
After resuming their second innings at the overnight score of 116 for five, ADBP's sixth-wicket pair Hafiz Majid and Javed Hayat survived the first 40 minutes without much alarm.
But once Sajid ended Hafiz Majid's 146-minute dogged resistance with a superb delivery the remaining batsmen caved in with offering any fight.
The left-handed Javed Hayat made 38 in 73 minutes off 64 balls to become ADBP's top scorer in the match.
HBL skipper Akram Raza, who also captained his team to title victory last season, received the trophy from Sirajul Islam Bukhari, chairman of the Domestic Tournament Monitoring Committee (DTMC) before sending it back to the HBL sports division from where it was brought this morning.
But the conspicuous absence of a representative of the Pakistan Tobacco Company (PTC), the main sponsors of Pakistan cricket, at the award ceremony was unusual.
The main domestic tournaments in recent years have been getting scant coverage by the electronic media. Gone are the days when the finals of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy and the Patron's Trophy were given extensive live ball-by-ball coverage by both television and radio.
Besides the Wills Patron's Trophy, HBL won the winners' prize of Rs 48,000. Runners-up ADBP will receive Rs 24,000.
The DTMC chairman also acted as the adjudicator and declared HBL's pacers Kabir Khan and Sajid Shah as joint winners of the Man-of-the-Match award of Rs 4,800 for capturing eight wickets each in the match.