da heads bet： Karachi, Nov 25: It was more a case of Karachi Blues losing thanLahore Blues achieving an unlikely victory in the Quaid-i-Azam TrophyNational Grade-I Cricket Championship encounter here at the UBL SportsComplex on Saturday
26-Nov-2000Karachi, Nov 25: It was more a case of Karachi Blues losing thanLahore Blues achieving an unlikely victory in the Quaid-i-Azam TrophyNational Grade-I Cricket Championship encounter here at the UBL SportsComplex on Saturday.Lahore Blues, who were set a target of 335 in a minimum of 95 overs,managed to reach their target on the fourth and final day for the lossof seven wickets with seven balls to spare.The over confident Karachi Blues side had taken for granted that theywill gain their first victory in the current championship withconsummate ease by taking advantage of a last day’s wearing pitch. Butsome unimaginative captaincy by Iqbal Imam and atrocious display inthe field doomed Karachi Blues to their sixth defeat. They are almostassured of a Grade-II spot next season after failing miserably toscore their first points.It is a great pity that the country’s biggest cricketing nursery onceagain failed to field a proper combination despite having at itsdisposal a reservoir of talented players. Iqbal Imam’s leadership wasquite bewildering as he continuously kept faith in his spinners thatallowed Lahore Blues more overs to face. Had he utilized the servicesof Mohammad Javed’s medium-pacers, it was possible that the result ofthe match could have been different.Lahore Blues, on the other hand, deserved nine points after concedinga first innings lead of 137 runs. Barring Fareed Butt, every batsmanplayed his role perfectly.Young wicket-keeper Humayun Farhat laid the foundation for his side’svictory with a dashing knock of 87 in 125 minutes off just 93deliveries until he played across the line and was caught at cover viaa leading edge. His marvelous innings included 10 fours and a six.Humayun is having a dream season and is now a serious contender ofplace in Pakistan’s squad for the tour of New Zealand early next year.In seven matches, he has scored more than 650 runs with two centuriesand has accounted for almost 40 dismissals behind the stumps.Shahid Anwar (41), Tariq Rasheed (47), skipper Mohammad Hussain (50)and Intikhab Alam (33) further consolidated the innings. However, thereal hero of the day was Hafeez Qureshi. He held up one end to allowthe stroke-makers to play their natural game. Qureshi’s vitalcontribution of 22 off 95 balls in two hours allowed Waqas Ahmed toput the final nail in Karachi Blues’ coffin with a cavalier 32 off 35balls during an unbroken partnership of 54.Waqas settled the issue beyond doubt when he used to long reach tosmash off-spinner Tabish Nawab high, wide and handsome over mid-wicketfor a huge six. The ball was lost in the bush after travelling adistance of some 110 yards.