Khurram, Shan win first match for KP

KARACHI: Test opener Khurram Manzoor blasted his career-best 190 not out while Shan Masood slammed unbeaten 100 to enable Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to pull off their first win from two games when they demolished Punjab by ten wickets in a high-scoring day-night outing of Pakistan Cup National One-day Cricket Championship at Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad on Saturday.Khurram and Shan did some merciless hitting and prevailed over the Punjab’s bowlers to enable KP to achieve the 298-run target in commanding fashion in 38.1 overs without losing any wicket.Earlier Punjab, whose top order collapsed, piled-up 297-9 in the stipulated 50 overs on the fourth day of the five-outfit event being held in the simmering heat.Chasing a seemingly fighting total on the pitch which had nothing much for the bowlers, Khurram in fact took the front seat, punishing every bowler with great ease to race to his List A highest score, surpassing his previous highest total of 187. The 31-year old hit 26 fours and five sixes in his 118-ball swashbuckling knock.Kuwait-born left-handed Shan, on the other hand, remained a bit careful and crafted a solid knock which was a mixture of both defence and aggression. He smashed ten fours in his 111-ball tenth hundred in this form of cricket.Spinner Usama Mir was the most expensive as he conceded 89 runs in his quota of ten overs. Spinner Kashif Bhatti gave away 68 runs in his ten overs.Earlier, after being invited to bat first by Mohammad Hafeez, it was a disastrous batting journey for Punjab as at one stage they were reduced to 130-6 in the 31st over.However at that stage Asif Ali (121) and Khanewal-born young Mohammad Imran (59) shared a 134-run partnership for the seventh wicket to bring Punjab back in the game as they piled-up a fighting total in the end.Asif, who made his international debut during West Indies recent tour to Pakistan, smashed eight sixes and five fours in his 97-ball firework.The 21-year old Imran, who is more popular for medium fast bowling, hit five fours and one six in his List A career’s best score.Earlier Punjab kept losing wickets at regular interval due to fine bowling from left-arm pacer Zia-ul-Haq who broke the back of Shoaib Malik’s charges.Zain Abbas (27) and Shahid Yousuf (19) were the prominent contributors in Punjab’s top order. The left-handed Zain smashed three fours and one six from 25 balls while experienced Shahid struck one six and one four from 31 deliveries.Zia-ul-Haq was the pick of the bowlers with 4-60 in his quota of ten overs. He was ably assisted by international allrounder Hammad Azam who got 3-53 in nine overs.In response, it was the day of test opener Khurram Manzoor who played an innings of his life and along with Shan Masood shared a rare 298 runs for the unfinished opening stand to provide a much-needed win to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who had been beaten by Federal Areas in their previous clash the other day.

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