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Test discard Imran Farhat excelled with bat and ball to help PCB Blues score an exciting five-run win over PCB Whites in the opening match of the Super League One-day Ramazan Cup Cricket Tournament at Gaddafi Stadium Monday.

Set a target of 248 after five overs were deducted for slow over-rate, PCB Whites were all out for 242 in 44.1 overs.

Imran, bowling leg-spinners, conceded only 17 runs in 4.1 overs to claim four wickets, including the crucial scalp of Qaiser Abbas, who was caught by skipper Azhar Mahmood at long-off for 41, which were scored off only 30 balls.

PCB Whites needed five runs in the final over with last pair of Zahid Saeed and Faisal Irfan at the crease. But Zahid in an attempt to take a single was unluckily run out after Bilal Asad's throw from long-on uprooted the stumps at the bowler's end.

Imran who also scored 35 runs was declared as Man-of-the-Match and was awarded a cash prize of Rs 5,000.

Earlier, another Test discard Shadab Kabir batted with great authority to make a stylish 64 - the highest score of the match.

Shadab and skipper Naved Latif (49) laid a strong foundation for PCB Whites by adding 84 runs for the third wicket. But both were dismissed in quick succession.

Naved was out to pacer Abdur Rauf when he caught by Ijaz Ahmed Junior. He cracked two sixes and five boundaries in his 41-ball knock.

Six runs later at 151, the left-handed Shadab was caught behind by Atiq-uz-Zaman off Azhar Mahmood. Shadab's 99-ball innings was laced with six fours.

Qaiser tried to maintain the momentum but his departure at 211 allowed PCB Blues to gain control.

PCB Blues were asked to bat first after losing the toss in overcast condition and quickly lost three wickets for 44. However, opener Imran and Asim Munir (44 off 28 balls, five fours, one six) led the recovery operation. Atiq-uz-Zaman then came in to play a vital knock of 42 off 51 balls with two fours.

A total of 53 extras too played their part and helped PCB Blues get a respectable score of 247 in 48.2 overs.

For PCB Whites, pacer Tahir Mughal grabbed three wickets for 29 while another paceman, Zahid Saeed, and slow left-armer Qaiser Abbas took two wickets for 36 and 27 runs, respectively. Besides Imran, three others players were given cash prizes of Rs 2,000 each. Naved got the prize for hitting maximum number of sixes. Shadab pocketed Rs2,000 for hitting most boundaries while Atiq-uz-Zaman earned the prize for holding two catches.

Scoreboard

PCB BLUES:

Usman Tariq c Faisal b Tahir 8

Imran Farhat c Zahid b Kamran 35

Babar Naeem lbw b Tahir 0

Ijaz Ahmed Jr c Farhan b Tahir 5

Bilal Asad lbw b Faisal 15

Asim Munir c and b Qaiser 44

Azhar Mahmood st Amin b Kaneria 11

Atiq-uz-Zaman c Amin b Zahid 42

Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan c Tahir b Qaiser 15

Abdur Rauf b Zahid 19

Umar Gul not out 0

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-14, W-27, NB-8) 53

TOTAL (all out, 48.2 overs) 247

FALL OF WKTS: 1-26, 2-26, 3-44, 4-82, 5-88, 6-129, 7-171,8-211, 9-238.

BOWLING: Zahid Saeed 8.2-0-36-2; Tahir Mughal 9-1-29-3; Faisal Irfan 10-0-49-1;Kamran Sajid 6-1-31-1; Danish Kaneria 10-0-57-1;Qaiser Abbas 5-0-27-2.

PCB WHITES:

Riffatullah lbw b Rauf 6

Shadab Kabir c Atiq b Azhar 64

Kamran Sajid c Atiq b Umar 12

Naved Latif c Ijaz b Rauf 49

Farhan Adil b Babar 17

Qaiser Abbas c Azhar b Imran 41

Amin-ur-Rehman c Naveed b Imran 10

Tahir Mughal b Imran 4

Zahid Saeed run out 12

Danish Kaneria b Imran 6

Faisal Irfan not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-13, NB-6) 21

TOTAL (all out, 44.1 overs) 242

FALL OF WKTS: 1-16, 2-61, 3-145, 4-151, 5-201, 6-211, 7-223,8-226, 9-235.

BOWLING: Azhar Mahmood 8-0-45-1; Abdur Rauf 8-0-35-2; Umar Gul 5-0-34-1; Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan 9-0-42-0; Babar Naeem 7-0-42-1; Ijaz Ahmed Jr 3-0-25-0; Imran Farhat 4.1-1-17-4.

RESULT: PCB Blues won by five runs.

UMPIRES: Salim Badar and Mian Aslam.

MATCH REFEREE: Khateeb Rizwan.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Imran Farhat.

© Dawn