WAPDA v Abbottabad: Quaid-e-Azam Trophy – Match Recap
Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) overcame Abbottabad by 10 wickets in a four-day match of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium on Sunday, October 9, 2011.
The visitors had to chase only 60 runs for victory, which they easily did on the final day’s play.
Earlier, the WAPDA skipper Naved-ul-Hasan decided to field first after winning the toss. He expected the pitch to get better with the passage of time and wanted to take full advantage of the conditions.
However, the conditions were not bad for batting and the hosts got off to a decent start. Openers http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ghulam-Mohammad-c59992 put together a 53-run stand at the top of the order.
They failed to make most of the start though, getting dismissed for 34 and 20 runs respectively.
Abbottabad’s captain Rameez Ahmed and wicketkeeper batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wajid-Ali-c95867 played well and put on 76 runs for the third wicket partnership. The latter got out after adding 30 runs to the total, but the skipper managed to score 56 runs with the help of eight boundaries.
Middle-order batsmen http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khalid-Usman-c71296 contributed 42 and 56 runs to the total respectively, but the lower-order failed to make a significant impression.
The hosts were all-out for 259 runs in their first outing and they were troubled by the opposition’s bowler http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zulfiqar-Babar-c98673, who scalped four wickets.
WAPDA were given a very good start by opening batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rafatullah-Mohmand-c83262, who scored 70 runs at the top of the order, striking 12 boundaries.
However, the rest of the batsmen struggled to get going, as the team lost five wickets for just 111 runs.
Middle-order batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ali-Azmat-c43585 played extremely well under pressure, scoring 105 runs for his side. He smashed 11 fours and one massive six in an impressive outing.
Lower-order player http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sarfraz-Ahmed-c88818 also played a useful knock of 63 runs towards the end of the innings, giving his side a first innings lead of 66 runs.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Junaid-Khan-c77037 picked up four wickets for the home team, but the opposition still got away with 325 runs.
Abbottabad’s batsmen needed a solid performance in their second outing, but failed to cope up with the pressure. The team was all out for 125 runs, gaining an overall lead of 59 runs in the match.
None of the batsmen managed to get going this time around for the team and the highest score of the innings came from Riaz Kail, who contributed 26 runs to the total.
Zulfiqar Babar was once again impressive for WAPDA, picking up his second four-wicket haul of the match.
The visitors’ openers Rafatullah and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Asif-Khan-c46487 did not have any pressure on their shoulders once they came out to bat. The pair collected an unbeaten 61 runs, winning the match comfortably by 10 wickets. They scored 28 runs each in their respective outings.
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