Report

Easy wins for Lahore Lions and Lahore Eagles

A round-up of matches from the third match-day of the One Day National Cup Division Two 2010-11

Group A
Lahore Lions handed Hyderabad Hawks a hammering at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex in Karachi, winning by 222 runs. It was complete dominance by Lahore Lions as they scored 304 and then rolled over Hyderabad for 82. Their batting effort was led by opener Abid Ali and former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf, who has been excluded from the national squad for the 2011 World Cup. Ali made 86 and Yousuf 81 off 76 as Lahore Lions reached 228 for 1. Even though they lost wickets towards the end of the innings, a quick, unbeaten 31 by Mohammad Saad took them past the 300-run mark. Hyderabad's chase was doomed for the start as seamer Asif Ashfaq took three early wickets and they collapsed to 18 for 4. Legspinner Tanzeel Altaf ran through the rest of Hyderabad's line-up, finishing with 4 for 21 as Hyderabad's innings lasted only 25.3 overs.
It was another one-sided game at the National Stadium in Karachi, as Karachi Zebras beat Quetta Bears by 198 runs. Karachi reached 344, with Khalid Latif scoring 127 off 108 balls and Akbar-ur-Rehman getting 77 off 48. Quetta lost their last seven wickets for 37 and were bowled out for 146 in 33.2 overs. Akbar-ur-Rehman followed up his half-century with four wickets with his seamer and spinner Atif Maqbool took 3 for 18.
Group B
Lahore Eagles eased to their second win of the tournament, beating Pakistan Television by seven wickets at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Legspinning allrounder Saad Nasim starred with a five-for, undermining half-centuries from wicketkeeper Fayyaz Ahmed and Yasim Murtaza, who had put together 70 runs for the seventh wicket and rescued their team from 96 for 6. Pakistan Television could only manage 201, which was easily overhauled. Useful contributions from opener Hamza Paracha and Kashif Nizami backed up an unbeaten 74 from Usman Salahuddin. He added an unbeaten 77 with captain Intikhab Alam to seal victory with 31 balls to spare.
Peshawar Panthers opened their account in the competition with a 20-run win in a low-scoring encounter against Abbottabad Falcons at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. The hosts were put in and skittled out for 146, with only opener Haroon Ahmed offering any significant resistance. He played out 86 deliveries for his 57, and while Mahfooz Sabri made a quick 20. For Abbottabad, seamers Junaid Khan and Aziz-ur-Rehman shared seven wickets, but in vain. Barring opener Fawad Khan's 56, and Junaid's 29 way down the order, the rest of the Abbottabad batting crumbled as Riaz Afridi led Peshawar's charge with four wickets. The bowlers ran through the line-up to shut the visitors out for 126.