President's Trophy Grade-I: SBP, Kingsmen Academy conclude third round with victories

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Kingsmen Academy on Sunday won their respective matches comprehensively as the third round of the President's Trophy Grade-I concluded across four venues in three different cities.

At the National Cricket Ground in Islamabad, a collective effort from the bowlers after Abdullah Fazal's triple century and his opening partner Hasan Raza's double ton propelled SBP to beat Ghani Glass by an innings and 18 runs.

The decisive day of the fixture got underway with Ghani Glass resuming their second innings from 125/2, trailing SBP by a further 191 runs, but could only add 173 more to their overnight score despite Mohsin Riaz's century and thus succumbed to a gruelling defeat.

Riaz waged a lone battle for Ghani Glass on the final day with a gutsy 117 off 148 deliveries, comprising 19 fours and two sixes. Besides him, only Ali Razzaq (49), Hussain Talat (26) and Khurram Shahzad (24) made notable contributions to their second innings' total.

Sirajuddin and Kashif Bhatti jointly led SBP's bowling charge in the second innings, picking up three wickets each, followed by Mubasir Khan with two, while Shahid Aziz and Arshadullah chipped in with one scalp apiece.

At the Diamond Cricket Ground in Islamabad, Mohammad Ilyas's 11-wicket match haul led Kingsmen Academy to a resounding 10-wicket victory over Pakistan Television (PTV) on the final day.

The pulsating day commenced when PTV resumed their second innings from 62/2, trailing Kingsmen by a further 151 runs, and added 237 more to their overnight score, courtesy of half-centuries from Mohammad Taha and Sharoon Siraj to ultimately finish at 299 all out in 88.2 overs.

Taha remained the top-scorer for PTV in the second innings with a 94-ball 69, while Siraj made 61 off 125 deliveries.

Ilyas, who earlier registered a five-wicket haul in the first innings, took a six-for in the second, conceding just 57 runs in 19.2 overs. Shoaib Afridi and Mohammad Ammar chipped in with two scalps each.

Set to chase a modest 87-run target, Kingsmen Academy comfortably knocked the winning runs in just 9.5 overs without losing a single wicket.

Captain Tayyab Arif top-scored in the pursuit with an unbeaten 34-ball 40, closely followed by opening partner Muhammad Hurraira, who made 40 not out from just 25 deliveries.

In another third-round President's Trophy Grade-I match, half-centuries from Waqar Hussain and captain Rohail Nazir helped Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) salvage a draw against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) despite being forced to follow-on.

At the commencement of the fourth day's play at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium in Abbottabad, OGDCL resumed their second innings from 34/0, with a 147-run deficit, and went on to add 241 more to their overnight score, thus finishing at 275 all out in 89 overs.

Nazir played a captain's knock under pressure as he top-scored with a gutsy 72 off 116 deliveries, followed by opener Waqar, who made an 86-ball 60.

Besides them, Hammad Khan (37) alongside Razaullah and Ali Zaryab, 27 each, made notable contributions to OGDCL's total, while Pakistan Test captain Babar Azam could only muster four off 15 as he fell victim to Faheem Ashraf.

Arshad Iqbal spearheaded KRL's bowling charge in the second innings as well, taking three wickets for 43 runs in his 17 overs, followed by Mohammad Faiq, Iftikhar Ahmed and Faheem with two each, while Ahmed Bashir made one scalp.

KRL were set to chase a modest target of 95 runs but only got to bat three overs in which they could muster 11/1 and ultimately had to settle for a draw.

Another third-round President's Trophy Grade-I match between Markhor IT (MIT) Solutions and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), played at the Imran Khan Cricket Stadium in Peshawar, ended in a draw.

The decisive day of the fixture got underway with MIT Solutions resuming their second innings from 33/1, leading substantially by 234 runs. They added 159 more to their overnight score for six wickets and eventually declared at 192/7 in 45.3 overs, setting SNGPL a daunting 394-run target.

Middle-order batter Salman Khan remained the top-scorer for MIT Solutions in the second innings with an anchoring half-century, scoring 52 off 80 deliveries with the help of six fours. His efforts were backed by captain Khalid Usman and opener Hasnain Nadeem, who contributed with 35 and 25, respectively.

Mohammad Azab led SNGPL's bowling charge in the second innings as he picked up three wickets for 31 runs in his 5.3 overs, followed by Mohammad Imran with two, while Athar Mahmood and Naseem Shah claimed one apiece.

Set to chase 394, SNGPL made a spirited start, courtesy of half-centuries from their openers Azan Awais and Sameer Minhas, who put together a 163-run partnership.

Mohammad Ismail eventually broke the opening stand by cleaning up Minhas, who walked back after scoring a cautious 75 off 146 deliveries, while Azan Awais remained the top-scorer with an 81 not out from 154 balls.

Upcoming batter Abdullah Shafique could only face three deliveries as the on-field umpires drew the stumps with SNGPL's total reading 163/1 in 50 overs.

For the unversed, the fourth round of the President's Trophy Grade-I will run from September 30 to October 3 across four venues in three cities.