A dusty Karachi afternoon, a pitch that never quite settled, and suddenly a 232-year-old mark has gone. Pakistan Television, better known as PTV, squeezed past Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) by two runs, defending just 40 in the President’s Trophy. No first-class side had previously protected anything smaller; Oldfield’s 41 against MCC back in 1794 was the number to beat.
The match itself had not looked out of the ordinary until the final session. PTV’s 166 felt light but competitive, SNGPL’s 238 set up an apparently decisive 72-run lead, and PTV’s second-innings 111 left the defending champions needing only 40. On most surfaces you chase that without a second thought. Not here.
Left-arm spinner Ali Usman, top wicket-taker in this season’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, found immediate grip. He returned 6 for 9, hitting a full length and trusting the cracks to do the rest. Fast bowler Amad Butt, banging the odd short ball into a ragged area outside off, chipped in with 4 for 28. Together they rolled SNGPL for 37 in 18.2 overs.
Usman called it “one of those spells where the ball seemed to have its own mind,” while Butt simply admitted, “We kept telling each other, one more ball, one more mistake.” Their captain, perhaps still processing events, said very little beyond a relieved “job done”, and you could hardly blame him.
Low-scoring encounters have dotted this year’s President’s Trophy, partly because Karachi’s early-season tracks dry out fast, partly because of a deliberate move towards livelier balls. Even so, a side holding on after setting 40 feels closer to folklore than day-to-day cricket.
The result nudges PTV up the table and leaves SNGPL facing awkward questions, yet it is the record that will linger: 40 defended, 37 conceded, and the long-standing 41 finally eclipsed.
