Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to meet Northern in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2021 final

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Central Punjab by 244 runs at the UBL Sports Complex Karachi in the final round match of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy on Tuesday to set-up pink-ball five-day final against Northern at the National Stadium from 25 December.

Right-arm fast Sameen Gul took three for 42 while Imran Khan Snr, Sajid Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed picked two wickets each as Central Punjab were dismissed for 250 after resuming this morning at 123 for no loss and chasing 495 for victory.

The openers Abid Ali and Rizwan Hussain fought hard for Central Punjab. Abid scored 61 off 148 balls before retiring out. His partner Rizwan top-scored with 67 off 145, hitting 12 fours and one six. Hussain Talat coming to bat at number-five contributed a 132-ball 46, which included seven fours.

At NBP Sports Complex, six wickets from leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood led Sindh to a 48-run win over Southern Punjab. The win didn’t help Sindh to qualify for the final as they finished on the third spot with 143 points.

Chasing 232 to win, Southern Punjab were bowled out for 183 in the 55^th over. Yousuf Babar batting at number-five top-scored with a 124-ball 57, smashing six fours. Wicketkeeper-batter Azam Khan contributed 25 off 37 balls, which included three fours.

Sindh’s Zahid picked six wickets f0r 101 and ended-up taking eight wickets in the match. Mohammad Asghar with his left-arm spin bagged three for 35.

Earlier, resuming their second innings on 294 for seven, Sindh were bowled out for 306 in the 77^th over. Ali Usman picked four wickets for 102.

At the conclusion of tenth and final round matches of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Northern topped the table with 152 points and will face Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the final who finished on second spot with 150 points.

Points Table after Final Round Matches

Scores in brief:

Sindh beat Southern Punjab by 48 runs at NBP Sports Complex, Karachi

Sindh 310 all out, 96.5 overs (Saad Khan 88, Fawad Alam 85, Sarfaraz Ahmed 34 not out; Naseem Shah 4-46, Ali Usman 4-113) and 306 all out, 76.2 overs (Saad Khan 63, Saud Shakil 63, Khurram Manzoor 59; Ali Usman 4-102)

Southern Punjab 385 all out, 94 overs (Zeeshan Ashraf 108, Tayyab Tahir 69, Yousuf Babar 64, Azam Khan 48, Ali Usman 38 not out; Shahnawaz Dahani 3-61, Mohammad Asghar 2-72, Zahid Mehmood 2-153) and 183 all out, 55 overs (Yousuf Babar 57; Zahid Mahmood 6-101, Mohammad Asghar 3-35)

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Central Punjab by 244 runs at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 355 all out, 95.3 overs (Fakhar Zaman 76, Ashfaq Ahmed 71, Rehan Afridi 63 not out, Iftikhar Ahmed 53, Sajid Khan 51; Mohammad Ali 3-65, Faheem Ashraf 3-66) and 249-4 (decl), 67 overs (Fakhar Zaman 62, Iftikhar Ahmed 61 not out, Adil Amin 54 not out, Sahibzada Farhan 45; Bilawal Iqbal 3-45)

Central Punjab 110 all out, 31.5 overs (Azhar Ali 43, Zafar Gohar 22 not out; Sameen Gul 3-30, Imran Khan Snr 3-42) and 250 all out, 101.5 overs (Rizwan Hussain 67, Abid Ali 61 retired out, Hussain Talat 46; Sameen Gul 3-42, Iftikhar Ahmed 2-18, Imran Khan Snr 2-31, Sajid Khan 2-63)