KARACHI, 20th Dec 2023: The first round of President’s Trophy Grade-I came to an end with Wapda and SBP winning their games while the fixture between Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Ghani Glass ended in a draw.
Saad Nasim smashed an unbeaten hundred to save the game for Ghani Glass while Asif Afridi struck regularly to help Wapda reap triumph. The second round of the tournament will kick off on December 22 across four venues in Karachi.
Ghani Glass managed to eke out a draw against SNGPL by batting out the whole day and only losing four wickets. In pursuit of 408, Ghani Glass managed 300-6 in 96 overs. Continuing from their overnight score of 38-2, Kashif Ali (59) and Tayyab Tahir (60) scored fighting half-centuries. Skipper Moeez Ghani was dismissed for a duck leaving Ghani Glass 168-5. At this point, Saad Nasim and Mohammad Irfan (55) put on a sixth-wicket partnership of 124 runs to put SNGPL on the back foot. Saad (105*, 173b, 9x4s, 4x6s) scored an unbeaten hundred to save the game for his team.
Mohammad Ali managed four wickets while Mehran Mumtaz and Mubasir Khan managed one wicket each. Other SNGPL bowlers remained wicketless. SNGPL will face PTV at UBL Sports Complex while Ghani Glass will compete against KRL at SBP Sports Complex in the second round of the President’s Trophy.
Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) resumed from their overnight score of 39-1, whilst in pursuit of 286 to win. Wapda took the remaining nine wickets in 61.3 overs. Only Sarmad Bhatti (60, 152b, 6x4s) and Ali Zaryab (37) managed to put up some resistance but then KRL lost six wickets for 69 runs, awarding Wapda a win by 48 runs. Asif Afridi bagged four wickets. Naqeeb Masood and Tahir Hussain picked up two wickets each. Captain Iftikhar Ahmed and Hassan Abid Kiyani dismissed one batter each.
Reference Link: https://www.nation.com.pk/20-Dec-2023/ton-up-saad-saves-ghani-glass-wapda-secure-first-win-of-the-tournament