Lahore Whites cruised to their third consecutive victory in One-day tournament (Associations) after beating Islamabad by 39 runs in the third-round match played at Asghar Ali Stadium, Karachi.

The Lahore total of 284 for 7 was inspired by a magnificent 81 off 91 ball by Rizwan Ahmed, which included 8 fours and a six. After losing Humayun Farhat, the pinch-hitter, for just 1, and skipper Salman Butt for 35 (43 balls, 3 fours), Rizwan added 115 for the third wicket with Sohail Idrees (69 off 99, 4 fours, 1 six), setting the pace for an imposing total.

It was this good work by Rizwan and Sohail, which provided an opportunity to the late order batsmen to find quick runs at the end of the innings. This opportunity was duly taken by Baber Ali and Saad Janjua, as they hit 42 in the last 3.2 overs. Baber remained not out on 30 off 18 ball, whereas Saad made an unbeaten 19 off only 8 balls.

Requiring 285 for victory, Islamabad went on their run chase in a hasty manner, thus, losing 5 wickets before the 15th over. They never quite recovered from that vulnerable position, declining to 174 for 8 by the 37th over.

However, a partnership of 60 at this stage between Ishtiaq Rabbani (40 off 67) and Irfan Bhatti (48 off 60) brought some respectability to their total, as their innings folded at 245 for 9 after the allotted 50 overs.

For Lahore, Arsalan Mir bagged three wickets for 47, whereas Baber Ali got two. Saad Janjua and Farhan Rasheed grabbed one wicket each for 36 and 22, respectively.

In the second match of Pool A, played at National Stadium, Karachi, Rawalpindi thrashed Bahawalpur by 100 runs after electing to bat first and posting the biggest total of the tournament so far.

Yasir Arafat hammered 87 off only 77 ball, hitting 8 fours and 3 huge sixes, to help his side reach 303 in their allotted 50 overs. Yasir was helped by a breezy 60 off 47 balls by Naeem Akhtar and a much composed 62 off 78 by Wasim Ahmed.

Faisal Elahi grabbed 4 wickets for Bahawalpur, but at the cost of 78 runs in 10 overs. Imranullah bowled at a much better line and length, getting 3 for 58.

Bahawalpur never looked in contention of chasing the target, especially after losing two wickets for just 22. They ended up on 203 all out in 47 overs, with Safdrar Niazi and Amjad Jam contributing with 49 (63 balls) and 50 (82 balls), respectively.

In the third match, played at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi, Peshawar suffered their third consecutive defeat in Pool A, this time at the hands of Karachi Whites, after getting out for the lowest total of the tournament.

Batting first after winning the toss, Peshawar were skittered out inside 40 overs, as 9 of their batsmen failed to achieve double figures. This is the worst batting performance by any team in a tournament, which hitherto had seen some very daring deeds with the bat.

Adnan Malik, the left-arm spinner, bowled superbly for the home side, giving away just 18 runs in 7.5 overs and grabbing three wickets. However, the main damage was inflicted by Imran Javed. The pace man bowled tidily for his ten overs, taking 4 for 22.

For Peshawar, skipper Sajjad Ahmed top scored with 42 off 94 balls and opener Javed Iqbal made 11 of 24. Apart from these two, no other batsman could take his personal score past double figures.

Karachi opened their innings with skipper Shadab Kabir and the former Pakistan captain Moin Khan. These two added 64 in about 7 overs, before getting out on the same score. Moin Khan batted aggressively for his 47 (29 balls, 7 fours, 2 sixes), whereas Shadab got 14 off 13.

Zafar Jadoon and Saeed Bin Nasir took just around 6 more overs to knock of the required 101 runs. Zafar remained not out on 21 (24 balls, 4 fours) and Saeed made an unbeaten 16 (10 balls, 3 fours).

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