Rehman's five-for leads to Customs' collapse
A round-up of the first day's play of the final round matches in the Patrons Trophy
30-Nov-2006
Abdur Rehman, Habib Bank Limited's (HBL) left-arm spinner withdrawn from the Test squad for the series against West Indies, and Sajid Shah, the right-arm fast bowler, shared eight wickets between them to dismiss Pakistan Customs for a modest 194 on the first day of their final round of the Patron's Trophy Cricket Championship match at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex Stadium.
Rehman, 26, got 5 for 54 in 26 overs while Sajid took 3 for 35 runs in 17 overs as Habib Bank put Customs in to bat. Usman Arshad batted for four hours and scored a defiant 60 that included six fours and tail-ender Rizwan Akbar got 38 off 87 balls in with three fours and a six.
By close of play on the first day Habib Bank were 30 for no loss, Taufeeq Umar on 19 and Rafatullah Mohmand on 9.
Habib Bank have already qualified for the Quadrangular Stage of the tournament, that starts on December 5, after collecting the full 27 points from their first three matches. Customs with only three points to their credit are not in contention.
Attock Group scraped a rather poor score of 79 for 3 on a rain-shortened first day of their Patron's Trophy match against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex in Karachi.
Manzoor Ali Qureshi, making his debut with Attock Group, did well opening with an unbeaten 55 in his maiden first-class innings.
ZTBL need to at least gain the first innings lead points from this match, if they intend to join Habib Bank from Pool A in the tournament's Quadrangular Stage, starting December 5.
If they lose to Attock Group, placed at the bottom of the table, they'll be tied on 18 points with defending champions National Bank, but will lose out on the qualification as they have a lower net run-rate.