KARACHI: Shan Masood and Sohaib Maqsood hammered half centuries as United Bank Limited (UBL) thrashed Pakistan WAPDA by six wickets in the final to win the inaugural Departmental One-day Cup Cricket Tournament at United Bank Limited Sports Complex here on Sunday. Chasing a modest target of 219, set by WAPDA, UBL raced home for the loss of four wickets. Shan made 59 off 89 balls while Maqsood played a fine knock of 63 off 71 balls as UBL reached the target in 40 overs. The other contributors for the winners were Saad Ali (42) and skipper Younis Khan (33) who remained not out and played the winning runs. Earlier, UBL decided to field first after winning the toss. The WAPDA batsmen were unable to post a big total which could pose a threat to UBL. Bismillah Khan 43, Khalid Usman 46 and Wahab Riaz 53 were the main run-getter for the losers. An excellent bowling performance by Hammad Azam restricted WAPDA to 218 all out in 48.3 overs. Azam bagged three wickets in his 8.3 overs, giving away only 35 runs.
“It was a good match and we are glad that our players played and supported each other well,” said UBL captain Younis after the match. “When we took early wickets that was when we got control of the match and I am glad the batsmen carried the match well towards victory.” He then lauded team’s unbeaten run towards the silverware. “Winning the title without losing a single match is an honour for the team and shows that everyone played their part perfectly,” he said. With the victory UBL bagged the winning amount of Rs1 million, while WAPDA were awarded a runners-up prize of Rs500,000. Meanwhile, man-of-the-final Azam, tournament’s best batsman Masood (632 runs), best bowler Sadaf Hussain (18 wickets) and the outstanding player of the tournament, Kamran Akmal, with his 532 runs and 12 dismissals behind the wickets, bagged Rs100,000 each.
Published in Daily Times, January 15th 2018.