Mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed continued to make headlines when he bowled Sindh to a sensational 10-wicket victory over defending champions Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the fourth and last day of the fourth round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2022-23.
Abrar, the bespectacled 24-year-old Karachi-born spinner, followed up his first innings figures of 39.2-9-130-4 with 19-9-29-5 as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were mesmerised and spun out for a paltry 108 in 46.2 overs at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. Sindh achieved the three-run victory target in the first over to notched up their first victory of the season.
Earlier, Sindh, replying to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s first innings score of 384, were dismissed after adding one run to their overnight score of 489 for nine to earn a 106-run first innings lead.
But as the match appeared to head for a draw, Abrar demonstrated why he is one of the finest and highly-rated spinner in the circuit when he bamboozled the middle-order that slipped from 38 for one to 108 all-out. Abrar accounted for Sahibzada Farhan (12), Kamran Ghulam (0), Nabi Gul (4), Arshadullah (6) and Imran Khan Snr (4).
This was Abrar’s second match of the season. In his opening match against ATF Southern Punjab, Abrar had recorded match figures of 11 for 194. Abrar now has 20 wickets in two matches, with Sindh’s fifth round match against Balochistan at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. Overall, Abrar has claimed 53 wickets in nine first-class matches.
Abrar was well supported by Mohammad Umar, who claimed three wickets for 17 runs to finish the match with seven for 104.
Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (fourth round, day four):
Sindh beat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by 10 wickets at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 384, 115.2 overs (Mohammad Sarwar Afridi 148, Kamran Ghulam 93, Sahibzada Farhan 53, Rehan Afridi 47; Mohammad Umar 4-87, Abrar Ahmed 4-130, Mir Hamza 2-51) and 108 all-out (Ashfaq Ahmed 37, Rehan Afridi 28; Abrar Ahmed 5-29, Mohammad Umar 3-17)
Sindh (overnight 489-9) 490 all-out, 138 overs (Khurram Manzoor 116, Saud Shakeel 105, Omair Bin Yousuf 105, Mohammad Hasan 47 not out, Saim Ayub 42, Asif Mahmood 31; Ihsanullah 3-109, Sajid Khan 3-127) and 4-0
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