Abid’s record double ton steers Islamabad in National ODI cup semifinals

Karachi whites, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Islamabad make their ways into the semifinals of National ODI cup for regions where Karachi to face Peshawar in the first semifinal while Rawalpindi to play against Islamabad in the second semifinal. On the last day of the group stage matches, Rawalpindi knocked down FATA while Faisalabad bashed Lahore blues, Karachi whites defeated Lahore whites and Islamabad outplayed Peshawar.

Rawalpindi after winning the toss put FATA to bat and FATA put a massive total of 320 runs in the board in 50 overs for the loss of 8 wickets. Khushdil shah misses his century as he fall short of 4 runs. Yasir Ali and Saud Shakeel picked 2 wickets each. In reply Saud Shakeel steers his team to victory with his unbeaten 134 runs as Rawalpindi chased 320 runs in 49.5 overs and won the match by 5 wickets. Sohail Akhtar got 2 wickets from FATA.

Second match was played between Faisalabad and Lahore blues and Faisalabad opted to field. Batting first Lahore blues scored 235/10 runs in 48.4 overs where Mohammad Saad remains the top scorer with 89 runs. Fahim Ashraf and Mohammad Imran got 3 wickets apiece. Faisalabad chased down the total in 49.3 overs for the loss of 7 wickets and won the match by 3 wickets. Khurram Shahzad 77 was the top score from Faisalabad while Mohammad Qaiser Ashraf was the pick of the bowler from Lahore blues with 3 wickets.

Another match was played between Karachi whites and Lahore whites and after winning the toss, Karachi decided to field and Lahore posted 239 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 50 overs. Usman Salahuddin scored 92 runs while Mohammad Asghar picked up 3 wickets from Karachi. In reply, Khurram Manzoor helps Karachi whites to beat Lahore whites by 9 wickets as he scored unbeaten 143 runs and Karachi achieved the target in 39 overs for just 1 wicket. Asfand Mehran picked the only wicket from Lahore whites.

Last match of the day was played between the twin cities, Islamabad and Rawalpindi and Islamabad easily rooted Rawalpindi by 233 runs courtesy Abid Ali who scored 209 runs not out and become the only batsman from Islamabad team to score double ton in a 50 overs game. Islamabad won the toss and elected to bat first where they scored massive 74 runs in 50 overs for the loss of just 1 wicket. Shan Masood contributed 71 runs while Faizan Riaz remained unbeaten on 76 runs. Imran Khan got the only wicket. In reply, Islamabad wrapped up Rwalpindi’s innings on just 144 runs in 38 overs to win the match by 233 runs. Nabi Gul was the highest runs scorer from Rawalpindi with 42 runs. Shaid Yousaf picked up 3 wickets from Islamabad.

First semifinal of the tournament will be played between Karachi whites and Peshawar on Thursday 8th February while Rawalpindi to take Islamabad on Friday 9th February in the second semifinal.