One-day tournament (Associations): Karachi-W, Lahore-W and Rawalpindi win Pool A encounters

Karachi Whites thrashed Bahawalpur by a huge margin of 173 runs, as their pace man Imran Javed bagged 7 wickets for 40, sending the tourists packing for 102 while chasing 275 for victory.

Put into bat first, Karachi-W were helped by fine innings from Hasan Raza (63 off 83), Arif Mahmood (56 off 48) and Saeed Bin Nasir (43 off 80), as they posted an impressive 275 for 5 on the board.

It was then all Imran Javed with his deadly yorkers and lovely out-swingers, accounting for 7 of the Bahawalpur batsmen for 40 runs in his ten overs. Hammad Tariq (75 off 91), the opener, fought single-handedly all through the innings, but failing to find any contribution whatsoever from the other end, he only saw his side disintegrating inside 23 overs, with the second highest individual score being only 3.

In the second Pool A match, Lahore Whites surpassed Peshawar by 113 runs, after posting 268 in their fifty overs. Led by wicket keeper/batsman Humayun Farhat, Lahore had an opening partnership of 98 in about 13 overs, as Salman Butt and the skipper himself led the charge against Peshawar bowlers.

The skipper made an attacking 60 off 45 balls, helped by 8 fours and a six, and Salman got a patient 53 off 95 ball. Sohail Idrees and Rizwan Aslam also batted well getting 42 (64 balls) and 41 (38 balls), respectively.

Peshawar made an impressive start, getting 25 in the first two overs, but dramatically lost momentum, losing wickets at regular intervals. The 16-year-old lad Azhar Ali proved their main destroyer, bagging five wickets for 23 with his leg breaks. He was aided by Saad Janjua who got 2 for 25, whereas Rizwan Ahmed got 2 for 31, thus, restricting the opposition to 155 in 37.4 overs.

The third encounter of this Pool, played between Islamabad and Rawalpindi, was arguably the most interesting match so far in the tournament, with the latter emerging winners by only one wicket.

Chasing a target of 239, Rawalpindi were cruising along at 150 for 4 by the 30th over, after Mohammad Nadeem and Naeem Akhtar had batted well, respectively, for their 48 and 43. However, the next ten overs witnessed a remarkable turnaround, as Islamabad claimed 5 wickets with the addition of just about 35 runs, reducing the opposition to 188 for 9 by the 41st over.

It was then up to an unbeaten 53-run partnership between Iftikhar Mahmood and Junaid Zia, which ultimately led their side through in 49.5 overs. Making full use of Islamabad's slackness in the field, the two tail-enders found runs without much ado. Iftikhar remained not out on 29 (35 balls) and Junaid scored an unbeaten 27 (28 balls, 2 fours, 1 six).