Bureau Report
Karachi: Balochistan defeated Northern by 32 runs in the opening match of the Pakistan Cup One Day Tournament Second XI here on Wednesday.
Bowlers bowled well for Balochistan as they restricted Northern to 226-10 while defending 259 runs in 50 overs. Najeebullah Achakzai, Nazar Hussain, Hayatullah, Zainullah, and Awais Zia bagged two wickets each.
Umair Masood scored the highest 89 runs for Northern. The right-handed batsman struck 10 boundaries.
Earlier, Balochistan scored 258 runs for the loss of nine wickets. Zeem Ghumman hammered 62 runs off 82 balls with five boundaries while Awais Zia and Israr Ahmed made 49 and 44 runs respectively.
Salman Irshad bagged three wickets while Naveed Malik took two wickets.
In the second match, Southern Punjab (SP) beat Sindh by six wickets. Set to chase 109 runs in 50 overs, SP took just 43.3 overs to mark their first successive win with six wickets in hand.
Waqar Hussain was prominent with his 85-balls 85 with the help of nine boundaries. Anas Mustafa made 41 runs off 48 balls laced with five boundaries. Rameez Alam contributed 40 runs.
For Sindh, Ghulam Mudassar, Hassan Khan, Adeel Meo, and Ammad Alam bagged a wicket each.
While batting first, Sindh were bowled out for 208 runs thanks to Salahuddin and Mukhtar Ahmed who shared three wickets apiece. Saifullah Bangash played a fighting knock of 57 runs off 78 balls for Sindh while Hassan Khan struck 46 runs.
Central Punjab (CP) won the third and last contest of the opening day by 92 runs against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK).
