KARACHI: Sialkot beat Peshawar by a wicket in a thrilling contest on Sunday, the day four of the five-day final, at the UBL Sports Complex here to bag their third Quaid-e-Azam Trophy title.

Sialkot did not lose a single match in the tournament with their eight matches yielding five wins and three draws.

Chasing 173 to win, Sialkot were 59-5 in 15 overs at the beginning of day. They completed the chase in 46.2 overs with skipper Amad Butt starring with a match-winning half-century and Shahzaib Bhatti (32 not out) hitting the winning runs, which came off a boundary.

Skipper Amad anchored the chase with poise as he notched 65 runs off 94 balls hitting nine fours and one six during his stay on the crease.

After Sialkot lost wicket-keeper-batter Afzal Manzoor with scorecard reading 69-6, Amad partnered with Shahzaib for a crucial 48-run seventh-wicket to take their team out of dire straits.

Sajid Khan castled Amad to bring Peshawar back to the game but Shahzaib stuck around to finish the game with 51-ball 32 inclusive of four boundaries.

Shoaib Akhtar Jnr departed in the 46th over with one run required to win and one wicket left for Sialkot before the sealed the game in next over.

For Peshawar Niaz Khan picked up four wickets while Mohammad Amir Khan returned figures of 3-60. Israrullah and Sajid Khan dismissed one batter each.

SCOREBOARD

PESHAWAR (1st Innings) 258

SIALKOT (1st Innings) 245

PESHAWAR (2nd Innings) 159

SIALKOT (2nd Innings, overnight 59-5):

Ashir Mehmood c Abuzar b Niaz 8

Azan Awais b Niaz 19

Mohammad Hurraira lbw b Amir 18

Mohsin Riaz c Israrullah b Niaz 0

Mohammad Waleed lbw b Niaz 1

Ahsan Hafeez c Farhan b Amir 5

Amad Butt b Sajid 65

Afzal Manzoor c Farhan b Amir 1

Shahzaib Bhatti not out 32

Shoaib Akhtar c Abuzar b Israrullah 4

Ali Raza not out 0

EXTRAS (B-9, LB-14) 23

TOTAL (for nine wkts, 46.2 overs) 176

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-14, 2-35, 3-35, 4-41, 5-55, 6-69, 7-117, 8-151, 9-172

BOWLING: Niaz 17-5-51-4, Amir 18-4-60-3, Sajid 8.2-1-35-1, Maaz 2-0-7-0, Israrullah 1-1-0-1

RESULT: Sialkot won the match by one wicket.

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2025