The Markhor IT Solutions cricket team claimed their maiden President's Trophy Grade-I title with a 51-run win over State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the central bank's departmental side, at Bagh-e-Jinnah in Lahore. Match scores read Markhor IT Solutions 112 and 296 against SBP 172 and 185. The five-day final was wrapped up on the fourth morning, and all-rounder Aamer Jamal was named Player of the Match after a decisive bowling and batting contribution.
How the final unfolded
Bowlers dominated early. Markhor IT Solutions were dismissed for 112 in 29.5 overs, with SBP quicks Sirajuddin (6 for 39) and Shahid Aziz (4 for 39) sharing all ten wickets. Sirajuddin, a 24-year-old right-arm fast bowler from Bajaur Agency, recorded his maiden five-wicket haul in the process. SBP answered with 172 as Jamal, the only Test cricketer in the Markhor IT Solutions cricket team, returned 7 for 32 from 14 overs.
A 41-run second-wicket stand between Hasan Raza (36) and Faham-ul-Haq (17) briefly steadied SBP, but three wickets fell for no runs as Jamal removed Faham and Kamran Ghulam (0) in consecutive overs, with Salman Aslam bowling Raza in between. Ali Shan (27) and captain Rameez Aziz (14) added 36, yet Jamal kept breaking through, taking four wickets in three overs at one stage. All 20 wickets across the first two innings went to fast bowlers.
Jamal's all-round reply
Less than a week after he was left out of the Test series against Sri Lanka, Jamal shaped the chase target as well. After wiping out a 60-run first-innings deficit, Markhor IT Solutions slipped to effectively three wickets down for one run, then rebuilt. Abuzar Tariq made 85 from 148 balls. Jamal, batting at No. 7, scored 55 off 81 — his fifth first-class fifty — and the side reached 296. That set SBP 237.
Atizaz Habib Khan, who had top-scored with 29 off 30 in the first innings, was replaced in the second by Ali Asfand because of concussion. Test seamer Mohammad Abbas took 5 for 70 in 18 overs, his 60th five-wicket haul. SBP began the chase brightly at 119 for 2 before a middle-order slide left them 147 for 7. When play resumed on the fourth morning, Markhor IT Solutions needed three wickets; captain Usman finished the innings with his fourth wicket (4 for 38 overall in that innings).
From Grade II to the trophy
The Markhor IT Solutions cricket team reached first-class cricket for the first time after beating Kingsmen in the Grade II Gold Tournament final on first-innings lead, earning promotion. Winning the Grade-I final at Bagh-e-Jinnah — staging its first first-class match in 21 years — completed that climb in a single season. All three half-centuries in the contest came in the second innings, underlining how slow scoring and seam movement framed the match until Jamal and his teammates closed it out.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Markhor IT Solutions cricket team ne pehli dafa first-class title jeet liya hai. Unhon ne Lahore ke Bagh-e-Jinnah mein State Bank of Pakistan ko 51 runs se haraaya. Aamer Jamal ne pehli innings mein saat wickets liye aur doosri mein fifty bhi banayi. Domestic cricket dekhne walon ke liye yeh unki pehli bari kamyabi ki seedhi khabar hai.
