Islamabad facing defeat

Irresponsible batting on the third day Friday left Islamabad facing defeat against Rawalpindi in their Quaid Trophy Grade-I match at the KRL Stadium.

Rawalpindi, thanks to a 50-run eighth wicket stand between Yasir Arafat and Nadeem Abbasi, hit up 221 in their second innings to leave Islamabad with a difficult target of 294 for victory. They had resumed at the overnight score of 179 for seven. But Islamabad batsmen instead of batting patiently just threw away their wickets and were a precarious 140 for seven at the close.

Ali Naqvi (6) Bilal Asad (43) and Azhar Mahmood (34) were the culprits and fell to reckless strokes as Rawalpindi prepared to celebrate victory early Saturday, the last day of the game.

The damage was done by Test discard Mohammad Zahid who captured four for 46 while Naeem Akhtar had two for 17.

In the Rawalpindi innings Yasir excelled with the bat as he did with the ball and struck 49 before being dismissed by Saad Janjua.