Pakistan Television (PTV) produced one of the most astonishing victories in the history of first-class cricket on Saturday, defending a target of just 40 runs to beat Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) by two runs in the President’s Trophy Grade-I clash at the National Bank Stadium.
In doing so, PTV successfully defended the lowest total ever in first-class cricket, eclipsing a record that had stood for 232 years — Oldfield’s defence of 41 against MCC at Lord’s Old Ground in August 1794. What unfolded was a spell of red-ball bowling that will be spoken about for generations.
A chase that became a collapse
Set an apparently modest target of 40, SNGPL never came close to calm. From the moment left-arm spinner Ali Usman struck with the very first wicket of the innings, the chase unravelled into chaos.
Ali and Amad Butt bowled relentlessly in tandem — Ali delivering 9.4 overs on the trot, Amad responding with 10 consecutive overs — squeezing, attacking and dismantling SNGPL’s batting with unyielding precision.
At 22 for 7, disbelief spread across the ground. What should have been a routine finish turned into survival cricket. Saifullah Bangash’s 14 off 35 balls offered a flicker of hope, but it was fleeting. Ali Usman returned to remove the final batter, sealing a collapse that read 37 all out in 19.4 overs.
Ali Usman’s career-defining spell
Ali Usman, playing his first match of the tournament after finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2025-26, delivered a spell for the ages. His figures of 6 for 9 in the second innings were not only decisive but historic, giving him a match haul of 10 for 75 — the best of his red-ball career.
Remarkably, Ali claimed both the first and last wickets of the innings, embodying total control from start to finish. It was a performance that earned him a deserved Player of the Match award and etched his name permanently into Pakistan’s domestic cricket folklore.
Amad Butt’s perfect support act
If Ali was the executioner, Amad Butt was the relentless enforcer. The right-arm pacer backed up his all-round display — 46 not out and 3 for 42 in the first innings — with a hostile second-innings burst of 4 for 28.
His pace, bounce and discipline ensured there was no escape, keeping pressure locked at one end as Ali dismantled the lineup from the other.
From fragile batting to immortal bowling
Earlier in the day, PTV’s task had seemed bleak. Resuming on 99 for 5, they were bowled out for 111, with SNGPL’s Shehzad Gul continuing his sensational form by claiming 5 for 28 — his third five-wicket haul in four innings.
Yet what followed transformed a modest lead into a monument of first-class resilience. PTV’s bowlers turned vulnerability into invincibility, proving that in red-ball cricket, runs on the board matter far less than belief, discipline and execution.
A match for the ages
PTV’s two-run victory was not just a win — it was a rewriting of cricketing history. On a pitch where survival should have been straightforward, Ali Usman and Amad Butt delivered a bowling exhibition so fierce, so precise, that it rendered a 40-run chase insurmountable.
This was not merely the defence of a total. It was the defence of pride, nerve and possibility — and it will stand forever as one of the greatest moments the President’s Trophy, and first-class cricket itself, has ever witnessed.
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