KARACHI: Fata Cheetahs made up for lost time by inflicting an emphatic innings defeat on Abbottabad Falcons in their second-round match at the PCB Inter-Region U-19 Three-day Cricket Tournament on Friday.

Following heavy rains and flooding in upper parts of the country, all matches of pools from ‘B’ and ‘D’ were postponed after they were scheduled to commence last Sunday as per the programme announced by the PCB. Hence, the rescheduled round-two fixtures of the three groups commenced on Thursday.

Having won the toss in the Pool ‘B’ tie at the Sports Complex in Mardan, the Cheetahs had bowled the Falcons for a paltry 94 before closing Thursday’s first day at 197-2.

On Friday, the Cheetahs reached 345-4 in the stipulated first-innings quota of 83 overs with Aamir Jahanzaib making 106 (206 balls, 11 fours and two sixes), Usman Khan 83 (118 balls, 11 boundaries) and Mohammad Wasim an unbeaten 67 (94 balls, eight fours and one six).

Starting their second innings with a huge deficit of 251 runs, the Falcons caved in without any fight for a meagre 110 all out in 36.5 overs.

Meanwhile, Lahore Lions gained a one-run lead on the first innings in the other Pool ‘B’ game against Islamabad Leopards at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital. By stumps, the visitors had advanced to 150-3 in their second innings.

The Leopards, resuming at 81-2, were dismissed for 191 with Sajawal Riaz making 81 (155 balls, 11 boundaries).

Karachi Zebras poised for their first win in Pool ‘C’ when they earned a 179-run lead on the first innings against Azad Jammu Kashmir Jaguars by amassing 411-7 in 83 overs at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

The highlight of the second day being the excellent centuries for the Zebras from Danish Aziz (181 off 264 balls, 14 fours and three sixes) and Shahzar Hasan (112 off 126, 16 boundaries).

By close of play, the home side had slumped to 63-3 in the second innings with Usman Maroof, who had hit 129 (240 balls, 10 fours and eight sixes) in the first innings, batting on 33.

The second day’s action in the other Pool ‘C’ fixture at the Gymkhana Ground in Okara was washed out. Hosts Multan Tigers were due to start at 9-0 after being forced to follow on by Rawalpindi Rams.

Umair Masood scored 96 (143 balls, 10 boundaries) in a Rams’ tally of 269 before the Tigers were sent packing for a measly 51 all out in their response.

Peshawar Panthers secured a handy first-innings advantage of 62 by totalling 171 against Lahore Eagles in the Pool ‘D’ encounter at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.

The visitors fought back well to collect 284 in their second innings with Gohar Hafeez (93 off 111 balls, 15 fours and one six) engineering the rearguard act.

The Panthers, chasing 223, went to stumps at 14-0.

Sialkot Stallions took an 86-run lead after restricting NCA Colts to 259 all out in their Pool ‘D’ match at the National Ground in Islamabad. Karachi’s promising all-rounder Hassan Khan hit an enterprising 76 (88 balls, nine fours and one six).

On Thursday, Ahsan Hafeez struck exactly 100 (111 balls, 15 fours and a brace of sixes) as the Stallions made 345 in their first innings.

Close of play scores and result on Friday (day two of three):

Pool ‘B’:

At Sports Complex, Mardan: Fata Cheetahs bt Abbottabad Falcons by an innings and141 runs.

ABBOTTABAD FALCONS 94 in 39.1 overs (Azam Ali Khan 43, Ahmed Asfand Yar 3-19, Naik Ali 2-7, Shadman 2-12, Mohammad Ibrahim 2-31) and 110 in 36.5 overs (Qaiser Khan 26, Azam Ali Khan 22; Shadman 3-9, Mohammad Ibrahim 2-27, Ahmed Asfand Yar 2-50); FATA CHEETAHS 345-4 in 83 overs (Amir Jahanzaib 106, Usman Khan 83, Mohammad Wasim 67 not out, Mustafa Hanif 32, Samiullah 24).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: LAHORE LIONS 192 in 66 overs (Kamran Shaukat 53, Rizwan Hussain 40, Mohammad Naeem 31, Fahad Farooq 21; Aamir Jamal 4-58, Abid Ali 3-33) and 150-3 in 49 overs (Rameez Younis 71, Mohammad Naeem 48 not out); ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS 191 in 50.1 overs (Sajawal Riaz 81, Ali Imran 34; Umar Farooq 3-37, Fahad Farooq 3-47, Aftab Azwar 3-62).

Pool ‘C’:

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur: AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR JAGUARS 232 in 81.1 overs (Usman Maroof 129, Aamir Sohail 39, Azhar Mughal 25; Alam Khurshid Shah 4-62, Hasan Shahab 2-61, Ghulam Hussain 2-73) and 63-3 in 20.4 over: (Usman Maroof 33 not out; Ghulam Hussain 2-17); KARACHI ZEBRAS 411-7 in 83 overs (Danish Aziz 181, Shahzar Hasan 112, Zohaib Abid 60, Fahaddis Bukhari 28 not out; Abdul Raheem 2-64, Azhar Mughal 2-57, Usman Khawaja 2-99).

At Gymkhana Ground, Okara: Rawalpindi Rams 269 in 70.4 overs (Umair Masood 96, Mir Waiz 31,Shadab Khan 31, Aaqib Shah 30, Awais Iqbal 25, Zeeshan Malik 23; Mohammad Shahid 4-67, Hasan Mushtaq 3-28, Abdul Quddoos 2-75); Multan Tigers 51 in 25.2 overs (Awais Iqbal 4-11, Mohammad Ismail 3-22, Mohammad Farhan 2-7) and 9-0 in 1 over.

Pool ‘D’:

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: LAHORE EAGLES 109 in 33.3 overs (Ahsan Tariq 42, Umar Islam 4-45, Niamat Shah 3-9) and 284 in 81.2 overs (Gohar Hafeez 93, Shahzad Javed 66, Kamran Afzal 50, Salman Shah 6-78; Umar Islam 2-64); PESHAWAR PANTHERS 171 in 44.4 overs (Mohibullah 81 not out, Mohammad Zawan Hikmat 27; Karamat Ali 3-79, Adil Sharif 2-19, Ahmed Bashir 2-30) and 14-0 in 2 overs.

At National Ground, Islamabad: SIALKOT STALLIONS 345 in 80.5 overs (Ahsan Hafeez 100, Arsalan Rafiq 42, Hafiz Hassam 40, Sohail Pervez 35 not out, Gul Zaman 30, Yasin Riaz 29, Sajawal Khan 23; Mohammad Umar Sr 3-73, Mohammad Ibtesam 3-56, Mohammad Mubashir 2-66, Hassan Khan 2-77) and 22-2 in 8 overs; NCA COLTS 259 in 79.3 overs (Hassan Khan 76, Ali Zaryab 49, Ahmed Sultan 34; Ali Shafiq 3-44, Saud Pervez 3-83, Zeeshan Abbas 2-37).

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2014