Lahore Whites managed their third victory in a row when they defeated Shah Faisal Seniors by 43 runs in the 10th National Senior Cup Cricket Tournament at the Race Course ground here on Thursday. In other matches, Sialkot Veterans and Gujranwala Veterans Blue registered victories against their respective rivals.
Man of the match Ali Zia again emerged the hero when he scored a century in 43-run victory of Ashiq Qureshi-led Lahore Whites. With 15 boundaries, Ali Zia hammered a sparkling 114 in Group-D tie, while the other main scorers were Dastgir Butt 50 and Tanveer Razzaq 24. Khalid snared 2-49 for losers.
The winners made 246-5 and, in reply, Shah Faisal were all out for 206. Karamat Ali hit a quickfire 71 for the losers, while Whites' Tariq Siddiqi (2-30), Imtiaz Shah (2-34) and Tariq Rasheed (2-38) were the most successful bowlers.
Former Test skipper Intikhab Alam was adjudged man of the match. The Group-C match saw Gujranwala Veterans Blues get rid of Gujranwala Veterans by 11 runs. Gujranwala, batting first, made 244-7 with Imran Zafar scored highest 64, Dr Farooq managed 42, while Tariq Javed made 38. Sohail Hassan took 2-43 and Riaz Qamar bagged 2-46 from Gujranwala Veteran, who were all out for 233.
Veterans' most outstanding batsman was half-century-maker Owais Chishti (51) as Riazul Qamar (33), Abdul Wahid (33) were other notable scorers. Imran Zafar (3-48), Abdul Sattar (2-44) and Farrukh Khan (2-30) bowled well for the winners and assuring a sensational victory.
Sialkot Veterans earned their fourth win in Group-C when they did well to chase a big target against Sheikhupura Lions at Sialkot's Garrison Park. The visitors made 255-6 with Saeed Akhter shone with a triple figure of 103, as other main contributors were Saadat Ali (57) and Naseem Bhatti (40). Sarwar Butt took three wickets for 38 runs.
In reply, Sialkot made 257-8 with unbeaten 96 by Tahir Mahmood, while Zahid Javed made 36. Tariq Zaman and Shabih-ul-Hassan took two wickets for 39 and two for 69 respectively.