Ali Ahmed
LAHORE:-Sindh were declared the winners of the Cricket Associations Championship after convincingly beating Balochistan by 10 wickets in their tenth-round match and topping the table with 34 points. The win also means they successfully retained the title.
Earlier, Sindh had also won the Cricket Associations T20 Cup held in Quetta in September.
Sindh had started the tenth and final round second on the table with 25 points, eight points behind Central Punjab.
Central Punjab had played out a drawn game against Southern Punjab at the LCCA Ground in Lahore and ended-up with 25 points from 10 matches.
At Saeed Ajmal Academy, Faisalabad, resuming their second innings with a deficit of 151 runs, Balochistan were bowled out for 159 with Sindh’s left-arm spinner Arish Ali Khan taking five for 64. He ended-up with match figures of eight for 144. Right-arm fast Asif Mehmood took three for 32.
In reply, Sindh chased down the nine-run target in the second over without losing any wicket.
At the Rana Naved Academy in Sheikhupura, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa played out a drawn game against Northern. Resuming their first innings on 333 for four, Northern managed to score 364 for four in 83 overs. Ziad Khan returned undefeated on 152, while Jamal Anwar remained unbeaten on 66.
In return, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in their second innings were 244 for six in 72 overs when stumps were drawn. Aitzaz Habib top-scored with a 144-ball 86, hitting 12 fours. He was supported by Mohammad Bilal who scored 76. The pair added 102 runs for the third wicket.
Northern’s Farhan Shafiq, Kashif Ali and Mehran Mumtaz bagged two wickets apiece.
At LCCA Ground in Lahore, Central Punjab played out a drawn game against Southern Punjab. Resuming their first innings on the overnight score of 285 for seven, Central Punjab were bowled out for 330 in the 79th over.
With 57 runs lead, Southern Punjab were 256 for five in 61.2 overs in their second innings when stumps were drawn. Mohammad Umair top-scored with 83 off 113 balls, laced with nine fours and one six. Sharoon Siraj scored 88-ball 62, while Hamayun Altaf contributed 54 off 75 balls.
Central Punjab’s Kamran Afzal picked three for 57.
Scores in Brief:
Sindh beat Balochistan by 10 wickets at Saeed Ajmal Academy, Faisalabad
Balochistan 285-9, 83 overs (Azeem Ghumman 93, Fahad Iqbal 50; Arish Ali Khan 3-80, Ashiq Ali 3-86, Danish Aziz 2-57) and 159 all out, 55.4 overs (Shahbaz Khan 25; Arish Ali Khan 5-64, Asif Mehmood 3-32)
Sindh 436 all out, 81.5 overs (Saim Ayub 101, Usman Khan 95, Syed Faraz Ali 90, Rameez Aziz 52 not out, Saifullah Bangash 43; Aftab Ahmed 6-101, Tariq Jameel 2-94) and 9-0, 1.5 overs
Match drawn between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Northern at Rana Naved Cricket Academy, Sheikhupura
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 273 all out, 70 overs (Mehran Ibrahim 125 not out, Mohammad Bilal 52, Mohammad Mohsin Khan 37; Kashif Ali 5-40, Mehran Mumtaz 5-87) and 244-6, 72 overs (Aitzaz Habib 86, Mohammad Bilal 76; Kashif Ali 2-39, Farhan Shafiq 2-54, Mehran Mumtaz 2-69)
Northern 364-4, 83 overs (Ziad Khan 152 not out, Zaid Alam 82, Jamal Anwar 66 not out; Aitzaz Habib 2-69, Farhan Khan 2-92)
Match drawn between Central Punjab v Southern Punjab at LCCA Ground, Lahore
Southern Punjab 387-8, 83 overs (Maqbool Ahmed 124, Mukhtar Ahmed 117, Moinuddin 63; Kamran Afzal 3-155, Mohammad Waheed 2-50, Sohaibullah 2-63)
Central Punjab 330 all out, 78.3 overs (Imran Dogar 103, Abdul Sammad 62; Mohammad Irfan 6-105, Umar Khan 2-54)
