Daily Times

KARACHI: Pakistan’s wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal on Wednesday became country’s third batsman to score a double hundred in a List A match with a blistering 200 for Pakistan WAPDA against Habib Bank Limited (HBL) at Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad. Kamran smashed four sixes and stroked 27 fours to score 200 off 148 deliveries to help his team chase a target of 315 in the 46th over with 7 wickets remaining. The out-of-favour wicket-keeper batsman reached the magical figure of 200 in 147 deliveries before being stumped on the next delivery by wicketkeeper Jamal Anwar off Zohaib’s delivery.

He is the third Pakistani after Mohammad Ali and Khalid Latif to score a double century in a List A match. Ali scored 207 for Pakistan Customs in Sialkot against DHA while Khalid scored an unbeaten 204 for Karachi against Quetta in 2009.

Kamran is also the second quickest Pakistani to complete a double century in a List A match. With completing a double ton off 147, he’s jointly the 11th quickest to do so along with India’s legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar. The 35-year-old batsman stroked 27 boundaries in his innings on Wednesday which is the most by a Pakistani batsman in a List A match and the sixth most overall. Kamran looks to be in the best form of his career at the moment and has been scoring big runs in each format of domestic cricket, knocking doors of the selectors for another chance. He was the top scorer in the National T20 tournament, scoring 432 runs in eight innings. He also smashed the country’s highest T20 score, 150 during the tournament. In an earlier interview, Kamran had indicated that he was ready to play as a genuine opener for Pakistan team if a chance is given to him by selectors.

In other matches of the One-day Cup for Departments, at NBP Stadium in Karachi, Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) outplayed National Bank of Pakistan by 9 runs. PTV defeated Sui Northern Gas Pipe Lines (SNGPL) by 9 runs at State Bank Ground in Karachi. United Bank Limited thrashed Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) by 53 runs.

Brief scores

1: At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: HBL 314-8 in 47 overs: (Ahmed Shahzad 110, 107 balls, 14x4s, Imran Farhat 63, 63 balls, 6x4s, Zohaib Khan 59, 46 balls, 5x4s, 1×6, Ramiz Aziz 43, 38 balls, 3x4s, Zahid Mansoor 4-52, Muhammad Irfan 2-55, Waqas Maqsood 2-57) VS WAPDA 318-3 in 45.1 overs: (Kamran Akmal 200, 148 balls, 27x4s, 4x6s, Salman Butt 59, 59 balls, 10x4s, Aamir Sajjad 40 not out, 55 balls, 3x4s, Muhammad Bilal 2-53)

Result: WAPDA won by 7 wickets

Toss: HBL

Umpires: Rashid Riaz & Shamim Ansari

Referee: Iftikhar Ahmed

Scorer: Anjum Baig

2: At NBP Stadium, Karachi: KRL 177-10 in 48 overs: (Nouman Ali 31, 32 balls, 2x4s, Hasan Raza 23, 39 balls, 2x4s, Junaid Ali 21, 37 balls, 1×4, Jaahid Ali 20, 44 balls, 2x4s, Bilal Asif 3-43, Kamran Ghulam 2-36) VS NBP 168-10 in 47.4 overs: (Usama Ali 40, 85 balls, 5x4s, Kamran Ghulam 36, 53 balls, 3x4s, 1×6, Hamza Paracha 32, 63 balls, 4x4s, Raza Hasan 20 not out, 42 balls, 1×4, Sadaf Hussain 3-22, Ali Shafiq 2-30)

Result: KRL won by 9 runs

Toss: NBP

Umpires: Zameer Haider & Tahir Rasheed

Referee: Athar Laiq

Scorer: Syed Obaid Ahmed

3: At State Bank Ground, Karachi: PTV 253-8 in 50 overs: (Nihal Mansoor 58, 66 balls, 5x6s, Saud Shakeel 41, 39 balls, 2x4s, 3x6s, Hasan Raza 39, 53 balls, 1×4, 1×6, Hasan Mohsin 28, 37 balls, 1×4, 1×6, Taimoor Khan 27, 49 balls, 3x4s, Muhammad Irfan 26, 21 balls, 2x4s, Muhammad Abbas 2-33, Imran Khalid 2-27) VS SNGPL 244-10 in 44.3 overs: (Asad Shafiq 75, 89 balls, 6x4s, 1×6, Hussain Talat 70, 55 balls, 7x4s, 2x6s, Khurram Shahzad 32, 52 balls, Imran Khalid 25, 26 balls, 3x4s, Athar Mahmood 5-28, Saud Shakeel 3-41)

Result: PTV won by 9 runs

Toss: SNGPL

Umpires: Khalid Mehmood Sr. & Muhammad Asif

Referee: Aziz-ur-Rehman

Scorer: Junaid Afzal

4: At UBL Ground No 1, Karachi: UBL 265-8 in 50 overs: (Umar Akmal 82, Ashiq Ali 41 not out, 80 balls, 4x4s, Saad Ali 38, 46 balls, 2x4s, 1×6, Muhammad Asghar 27, 11 balls, 4x4s, 1×6, Kashif Bhatti 2-27, Usama Mir 2-66, Adnan Ghous 2-68) VS SSGC 212-10 in 46.1 overs: (Sami Arshad 88, 105 balls, 7x4s, 1×6, Fawad Alam 47, 67 balls, 4x4s, Umar Amin 36, 49 balls, 7x4s, Muhammad Asghar 4-31, Sohaib Maqsood 2-32)

Result: UBL won by 53 runs

Toss: SSGC

Umpires: Ahmed Shahab & Asif Yaqoob

Referee: Nadeem Arshad

Scorer: Syed Imran Ali.

Published in Daily Times, January 4^th 2018.