Helped by a magnificent hundred by Sohail Idrees and an equally authoritative five-wicket haul by Azhar Ali, Lahore Whites surpassed Karachi Whites by 12 runs in a thrilling high-scoring encounter at National Stadium, Karachi.

Batting at number 3, the right-handed Sohail fully capitalized on an excellent 71-run opening stand between skipper Humayun Farhat (47 off 26, 6 fours, 1 six) and Salman Butt (37 off 54, 5 fours), as he hit 101 off 112 balls, which contained 7fours and one six.

This good work was continued by Rizwan Aslam (61 off 84), who found a few useful boundaries in the end, taking the Lahore total to 284 for 5 in the allotted 50 overs.

Karachi got off to a flier in their run-chase, reaching 97 by the 11th over. Then it was up to a fiery 86 (69 balls, 11 fours) from Saeed Bin Nasir, which took Karachi to 209 in the 39th over, requiring 78 in more than 11 overs.

However, it was because of a magnificent bowling effort by leg spinner Azhar (5 for 46 in ten overs), which put the much needed breaks on Karachi's scoring rate, with the home side losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually getting all out in the 49th over.

This is the 16-year-old Azhar's second consecutive five-wicket haul in the tournament after destroying Peshawar with 5 for 23 in the first match only two days ago.

In the second match of this Pool, played at Asghar Ali Shah Stadium, Karachi, Rawalpindi handed Peshawar their second defeat in as many matches, dampening their chances of reaching the semi-final stage of the tournament.

Put into bat, Rawalpindi posted a fighting 242 on the board with major contributions, apart from 37 extras, coming from Tasawar Hussain (85 balls, 1 four) and Naved Ashraf (33 off 55, 1 four).

For Peshawar, Bilal Marwat, Wasim Yousufi and Ahmed Kundi bagged two wickets each for 58, 30 and 35 runs, respectively.

Peshawar batsmen went in search of their target in a confident manner, getting 100 for 2 by the 21st over. However, after the departure of Javed Iqbal for a well made 50 off 59 balls, their middle order just collapsed, as Iftikhar Mahmood, the left-arm leg spinner, bowled superbly for his five wickets, giving away just 23 runs in 10 overs. Peshawar were all out in 49.3 overs for 195, thus, conceding the match by 47 runs.

In the third match, played at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi, Bahawalpur earned their first win of the tournament by subduing Islamabad by a narrow margin of two wickets.

Helped by a useful 70 by skipper Asif Ali Saeed, Islamabad, batting first after winning the toss, managed 230 before being all out in 48.3 overs.

Imran Adil and Amjad Jam bowled well for Bahawalpur, getting three wickets each for 36 and 40, respectively.

Requiring 231 for victory, Bahawalpur lost wickets at regular intervals. However, a fine 65 off 84 balls, by Amjad Jam held their innings together. He was ably supported by Mohammad Rashid and wicket keeper Inam-ul-Haq, who got 42 (65 balls) and 33 (41 balls), respectively.

Peshawar skipper employed 8 bowlers in a bid to stall the flow of runs, but none could prove effective enough. Only Nisar Ahmed could have his presence felt through figures of 2 for 24. Irfan Bhatti also got two wickets, but his nine overs cost him 60 runs. Ameer Khan and Ahsar Zaidi grabbed one wicket each for 33 and 35, respectively.

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