Karachi Blues march to ninth title

Karachi Blues won the Quaid-e-Azam trophy for the ninth time, beating Sialkot by nine wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Thursday. Karachi, led by Khurram Manzor, remained unbeaten in this tournament, winning seven matches and drawing three. This win gives the city of Karachi its twentieth Quaid-e-Azam title in 59 years, won by teams with different titles - Karachi, Karachi A, Karachi Urban and Karachi Whites.

This match was a one-sided contest as Sialkot never looked in control with the bat or the ball over five days. On a slower pitch, with rain affecting play on day one and day three, Karachi's domination proved crucial.

Sialkot, who were asked to bat first, failed to put up a big first innings total. Mohammad Ayub was the top scorer with 72 while Majid Jahangir scored 54 as the side was dismissed for 229.

Karachi, led by Akbar-ur-Rehman who scored 178, dominated a weak bowling attack. Fast bowler Bilawal Bhatti picked up four wickets in the first innings but none of the Sialkot bowlers failed to check Karachi, who piled up a 199-run lead.

In the second innings, a 98-run, fourth-wicket stand between Ayub (69) and Sialkot captain Mansoor Amjad (60) defied Karachi but it was not enough. Once the partnership was broken, the rest of the line-up did not contribute much to the total.

Sialkot began the fifth day at 189-5, trailing by 10 runs. Minutes before lunch, they were all out for 248, adding 59 runs in the first session. Tariq Haroon picked up five wickets for 74 runs as Karachi faced a target of 50 runs in 63 overs with two sessions of play left.

The chase was brisk as Akbar-ur-Rehman and Fakhar Zaman went for a 10-wicket win before Mohammad Ayub's splendid catch at gully dismissed Zaman for 20. Rehman then knocked off the remaining runs to take his side to a comfortable victory, finishing as the tournament's top run-scorer with 986 runs.

Karachi were awarded a prize money of Rs. 1.5 million while Sialkot won Rs. 1 million as runners-up.