Khalid Usman's four-for seals President's Trophy Grade-I title for Markhor IT

LAHORE: Markhor IT (MIT Solutions) clinched the President's Trophy Grade-I title after defeating State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) by 51 runs on the final day of the final at Bagh-e-Jinnah on Friday, with Khalid Usman's four-wicket haul sealing the result. Chasing 237, SBP resumed the fourth morning at 165/7 needing 72 more runs with three wickets in hand. They managed only 20 before being bowled out for 185 inside the first session. Khalid Usman finished with 4/38 from 16.5 overs, Mohammad Ismaeel picked up two wickets, and Aamer Jamal and Salman Aslam claimed one apiece. Mohammad Abbas was the first to fall on the final morning, making six off 30 deliveries with one boundary, an innings that underlined SBP's defensive intent. Mohammad Ismaeel then removed the well-set Mubashir Khan for 32 off 56 balls, including three fours, and Khalid Usman wrapped up the innings by dismissing Kashif Bhatti for two. Earlier, MIT resumed the third day at 273/7 with Aamer Jamal and Salman Aslam at the crease, but added only 23 runs before being bowled out for 296 in 74.5 overs. Jamal top-scored with a determined 55 off 81 deliveries, hitting seven boundaries, adding to the seven-wicket haul he had taken in SBP's first innings. For SBP, Test pacer Mohammad Abbas was the pick of the bowlers with 5/70 in 18 overs. Sirajuddin claimed three wickets, while Shahid Aziz and Kashif Bhatti took one each. In pursuit of 237, SBP made a steady start as openers Hasan Raza and Abdullah Fazal put on 49 runs. Salman Aslam broke the partnership in the 20th over, dismissing Fazal for 25 off 68 deliveries. Hasan then shared useful stands with Faham-ul-Haq (13) and Kamran Ghulam (16), but Ghulam's dismissal by Jamal in the 41st over triggered a collapse in which SBP lost five wickets in quick succession, slumping to 147/7. Hasan remained SBP's leading run-scorer with a fighting 73 off 136 balls, hitting eight boundaries. Mubashir Khan and Abbas then added an unbeaten 17 runs for the eighth wicket before stumps on day three, briefly raising hopes of an improbable finish, but the resistance ended on the final morning. Khalid Usman's spell was the decisive factor. Conceding only 38 runs across 16.5 overs, he combined control with penetration, exactly what a fourth-innings bowler is expected to deliver. Ismaeel's dismissal of Mubashir, the most settled batter at the crease, proved equally important, while Jamal and Salman Aslam provided the early breakthroughs that kept SBP from settling. The result caps a strong campaign for MIT, who lost their last three second-innings wickets for just 23 runs on day three but returned the same evening to take seven SBP wickets and put themselves in control. For SBP, the defeat was painful given they had competed for three days: Hasan Raza's 73 and Abbas's five-for ultimately went unrewarded. Khalid Usman's figures of 4/38 in a final, on the decisive morning, will be remembered as the spell that decided the President's Trophy Grade-I final at Bagh-e-Jinnah.