One-day tournament (Associations): Karachi Blues and Sheikhupura earn second wins, Lahore Blues also succeed in Pool B

Lahore Blues earned their first win of the One-day tournament (Associations), as they crushed Sargodha by 4 wickets in the second-round match played at Sargodha Sports Stadium.

Put into bat, the home side capitulated for 207 in 47 overs, with none of their batsmen reaching a big total despite getting into 20's and 30's. Misbah-ul-Haq, the skipper, top scored with 36 (71 balls, 3 fours) and Abid Hussain was run out for 31 (38 balls, 2 fours).

After losing their top eight batsmen for 166 in the 40th over, Sargodha tail-enders did well to take the score past the 200-run mark, with Shafiq Ahmed and Waqar Ahmed batting fairly quickly for their respective scores of 29 (15 balls, 3 fours, 1 six) and 26 (33 balls, 1 six).

For Lahore, Salman Qadir and Ashraf Ali bowled well, bagging two wickets each for 32 (10 overs) and 8 (1.3 overs), respectively.

Sarfraz Ahmed, the lanky left-handed pace man, bowled well for Gujranwala, grabbing four wickets for 49. Yet his efforts were just not enough to stop Lahore batsmen from reaching the target with about 5 overs and 4 wickets to spare.

Faisal Ashraf, batting at one-down position top scored with 67 off 95, hitting six boundaries. Shahnawaz Adeel got a cautious 30 off 62 balls, whereas wicket keeper Kamran Akmal forced the pace in the end by his attacking 47 off 38 ball, which contained 3 fours and a six.

The second Pool B match, played at Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala, saw Karachi Blues opener Tariq Haroon smashing a superb 104 not out to help his side overhaul Gujranwala's modest total of 222 for the loss of only 3 wickets.

Tariq hit 11 fours and one six during his marathon innings of 158 balls, as Karachi romped home in 48.1 overs. Zahid Ghouri and skipper Mansoor Khan also batted well for the winners, getting 37 (46 balls, 8 fours) and 29 (49 balls, 1 four), respectively.

Earlier, Rajesh Ramesh displayed some fine seam and swing to restrict Gujranwala to a manageable 222 in their allotted overs.

Reaching 154 for 3 by the 34th over, after Asim Munir and Mudassar Mushtaq had batted well for their respective 36 (50 balls) and 31(33 balls), the home side looked well set for big things. However, failing to keep up the momentum, the remaining batsmen lost their wickets at regular intervals, until the last man was out in the 49th over.

In the third match, pace man Kashif Raza snapped up four wickets for 35, helping Sheikhupura down Faisalabad by four wickets in a low-scoring encounter at Sheikhupura Stadium.

Kashif, who made his ODI debut in last month's ARY Gold Cup in Sharjah, bowled at a nagging line and length, allowing minimum of liberty to the opposition's batsmen. After getting rid of wicket keeper Mohammad Salman for 9, the right-handed pace man dismissed Hasnain Haider, Ijaz Mahmood and Sabir Hussain in quick succession to reduce Faisalabad to 74 for 6 by the 18th over, a position from which they did never quite recover.

The remaining damage was inflicted by Mohammad Haroon (2 for 15 in 7.1 overs) and Farrukh Majeed (2 for 11 in three overs), as the visitors were sent packing for 127 in 37.1 overs, after being put into bat by the hosts

Sheikhupura had not a very confident start to their run-chase, as they were reduced to 9 for 2 in the 3rd over. However, a 40-run third wicket partnership between Majid Majeed (14 off 53) and Mohammad Ayub (29 off 63) steered them out of imminent disaster.

It was then up to Sarfraz Kazmi and Naseem Abbas to see their side through by the 36th over. Sarfraz remained not out on 21 off 23, whereas Naseem made an unbeaten 11 off the same number of balls.