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Israrullah 155 leads Panthers to victory

A round-up of the Gold Cup matches on January 27, 2015

Group I

Israrullah struck his highest List-A score of 155, off only 125 deliveries, to lead Peshawar Panthers to a seven-wicket victory over Rawalpindi Rams. Panthers were set a target of 290, and Israrullah and Musadiq Ahmed (67) responded with an opening partnership of 141. Israrullah also added 92 for the third wicket with Mehran Ibrahim, who stayed unbeaten on 28. Israrullah hit fives sixes and 13 fours and fell ten runs short of the win, which came in the 47th over. It meant Zahid Mansoor's even 100 was in vain, as was Malik Aswad's 54 and Haseeb Azam's swift 48 down the order. Afaq Ahmed took four wickets for Panthers while Taj Wali and Jibran Khan picked up three each.
Centuries from Sharjeel Khan and Shahid Yousuf helped Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited chase down 305 against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited. ZTBL were 36 for 2 when Yousuf joined Sharjeel and the pair added 194. Sharjeel hit 14 fours and four sixes in his 122 off 107 while Yousuf struck 13 fours and two sixes in his 113 off 103. Captain Sohail Tanvir scored an unbeaten 23 off 16 to seal the win with three overs to go. Tanvir had earlier taken 5 for 56 as well. Azhar Ali had made 128 off 118 after SNGPL chose to bat, while Khurram Shehzad chipped in with 55.
Saad Ali made an unbeaten 93 to steer Karachi Dolphins to a five-wicket win over National Bank of Pakistan. Chasing 286 after choosing to bowl, Dolphins were given an opening stand of 62 by Fazal Subhan (62) and Rameez Raja (25). Subhan and Saad then took the score past 100 after a couple of quick wickets but two more strikes saw Dolphins in trouble at 113 for 4. Saad then put on 131 with Mohammad Waqas (67) to revive the chase. After Waqas fell, Mir Hamza came in and cracked an unbeaten 24 off 14 to haul the side home with four deliveries left. NBP's 285 for 8 was set up by opener Sami Aslam (69) and No. 7 Qaiser Abbas (72), while Fawad Alam contributed 41.

Group II

Legspinner Faizan Riaz's maiden five-wicket haul consigned Lahore Lions to a 124-run loss to Islamabad Leopards. Lions were bowled out for 142 in 35 overs chasing a target of 267. Faizan ran through the middle and lower orders after Hamza Nadeem and Kamran Hussain took care of the top. Only Agha Salman (57) and Tariq Nawaz (33) were able to go past 20 for Lions. Leopards were down to 85 for 4 after being asked to bat but fifties from Ali Sarfraz (66), Asadullah Sumari (63) and Sarmad Bhatti (51) revived them. Bhatti took only 27 deliveries to get his runs, hitting five fours and four sixes.
Saeed Anwar's century carried Khan Research Laboratories to 277 for 9, which proved to be too far for Port Qasim Authority as they were dismissed for 198. Anwar put on 150 for the fourth wicket with Shoaib Ahmed (67) to lift the innings from 37 for 3. Anwar faced 114 balls and hit 16 fours and two sixes. KRL's lower order crumbled but they already had enough. PQA's batsmen were not able to push on from several starts, the highest being Mohammad Salman's 40. Captain Khalid Latif was stranded on 37 as his team was bowled out in the 45th over with Nayyer Abbas and Sadaf Hussain taking three wickets each.
State Bank of Pakistan crushed Karachi Zebras by seven wickets with more than 18 overs to spare. Chasing 204, Farrukh Shehzad (51) and Babar Azam (46) started with a partnership of 96. Abid Ali made 38 at No. 3 and Mukhtar Ahmed slammed an unbeaten 49 off 36 to bring up the win in the 32nd over. Saud Shakeel made an unbeaten century for Zebras, but the next highest score was Jahid Ali's 32. Only one more batsman, Owais Rehmani (30), managed a reasonable score. No. 3 Shakeel hit nine fours and faced 114 balls even as the lower order caved in. Mohammad Naved and Zafar Gohar took three wickets apiece.