Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2010-11: Mohammad Talha shines as NBP beat WAPDA by nine wickets
In a 9th-round fixture of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2010-11 Division One, the National Bank of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sialkot-c842.
WAPDA was at the top of the points table in Division One but a couple of poor performances on the trot led to a slump all the way down to fifth position. NBP, on the other hand, have not had the best of the seasons this year but
will be looking to end the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy on a high. NBP’s progress has been hampered by the suspension of Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif due to spot-fixing allegations.
Captain Kamran Akmal won the toss for NBP and elected to bowl first on a suitable track. The decision turned out to be a wise one as WAPDA were dismissed for 271 runs on the first day. WAPDA’s top-scorer was Rifatullah Mohmand,
who was unfortunate to miss out on a hundred by just one run, as he edged an out-swinger by Uzair-ul-Haq directly into the hands of Akmal. Mohmand consumed 157 balls for his 99 and struck nine fours in his brilliant innings.
Mohammad Talha picked up a five-wicket haul in the first innings for NBP. Uzair-ul-Haq and Mohammad Zahid took a couple of wickets each.
In reply, NBP came up with a solid and professional batting display and piled up 432 runs on the board, taking a first-innings lead of 161 runs. The stars of the innings were seasoned middle-order batsman Naumanullah and upcoming
all-rounder Hammad Azam, both of whom scored smashing centuries for NBP. Naumanullah scored 100 runs off 151 balls with the help of 17 fours, whereas Hammad Azam remained unbeaten on 102 off 148 balls and struck 12 fours and a six. Test cricketers Akmal and
Qaiser Abbas also scored important half-centuries.
Lanky http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Umaid-Asif-c2719 picked up four wickets for WAPDA, while Kashif Raza and Zeeshan Nadir took three wickets each.
After conceding a huge first-innings lead, WAPDA’s batsmen were under pressure from the word go and could not post a good score on the board. The whole team was bowled out for only 224 runs in their second innings. The situation
could have been much worse without Umaid Asif’s heroics with the bat though, which scored 58 runs off 111 balls with the help of eight fours.
Mohammad Talha shone once again for NBP with six more wickets, bringing his total for the match to 11. Wasim Khan took three wickets in the innings.
In the last innings, NBP required a mere 64 runs to win the match, a formality they fulfilled for the loss of just one wicket.
Mohammad Talha’s wonderful performance in the current season has raised a lot of questions about the selection procedure for Pakistan’s national squad. Talha has only been selected once so far – for a Test match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758
in 2009, in which he only bowled in one innings. Since then, the youngster has been forgotten. His performance in the domestic season should definitely warrant more chances at the international level to prove his worth as a world-class fast bowler.
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