PIA reach final of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2010-11 after Aizaz Cheema's heroics
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-International-Airlines-c831 (PIA) qualified for the final match of Quaid e Azam Trophy 2010-11 Division One, defeating Karachi Blues by an emphatic margin of an innings and 16 runs in the 11th round of Pakistan’s premier first-class event.
PIA will now take on Habib Bank in the all important final which is going to be a historical event as first time in the history of Pakistan’s domestic cricket; a first-class match would be played under lights at night. The man behind Karachi Blues' destruction
was the fast bowler Aizaz Cheema who took 14 wickets in the match to sweep aside the batting line of the home team.
At the National Stadium Karachi, PIA won the toss and invited Karachi Blues to bat first on bowling friendly conditions. It was a must win match for PIA if it was to qualify for the final. The decision to bowl first turned out to be a brilliant one as Karachi
Blues was bowled out for a 1st innings total of mere 146 runs on day 1. Rameez Raja was the only batsman to have shown some resistance as he scored 54 runs before getting injured of a nasty delivery by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Aizaz-Cheema-c961. As a result, he got retired hurt.
Raja used up 63 balls for his knock and struck 9 boundaries to remain the top-scorer in the 1st innings of Karachi Blues.
Fast bowler Aizaz Cheema, who has also been named in Pakistan's World Cup probables, justified his selection and took 7 wickets in the 1st innings after giving away just 65 runs in his 14 overs. Although, he isn't that tall but still has a lot
of pace and firepower in his armoury. Kamran Sajid and Najaf Shah picked up a wicket each to support Aizaz.
In reply, PIA came up with a strong batting display under trying circumstances and scored 262 runs in its 1st innings. Opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Agha-Sabir-c950 remained the top scorer for his team as he scored 77 runs off 138 balls with the help of 13 boundaries. Test
cricketer Faisal Iqbal played an important innings of 54 runs off just 62 balls and also struck 8 fours. Shehryar Ghani chipped in with a brilliant 48. Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik could not make a huge contribution and made just 21 runs but still
struck 5 boundaries in his little cameo. As a result, PIA took a 1st innings lead of 116 runs over Karachi Blues.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Babar-Rehman-c47132 took a couple of wickets each.
In the 2nd innings, Karachi Blues came up with an even more poor effort and were blown away by Aizaz Cheema once again. The home team only managed to score 100 runs second time round with no significant contribution by any of the batsmen.
Aizaz Cheema took 7 wickets again for PIA to complete a match-haul of 14 wickets. These came at the expense of only 110 runs for his team. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Najaf-Shah-c2056 also took 2 wickets in the 2nd innings of Karachi Blues.
Aizaz Cheema has performed exceptionally well in the current domestic season so Pakistan selectors should also consider him for the ODI series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754. He may well prove to be a real asset for Pakistan in the absence of Muhammad Asif and Muhammad
Aamir from the national squad.
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