Northern took complete control of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy seventh-round fixture against Central Punjab while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa gained a healthy first innings lead over Sindh on day-two. Southern Punjab and Balochistan batters took the attack to the bowlers for a second consecutive day.
Over at the the UBL Sports Complex, Karachi, Southern Punjab were bowled out for 483 in their first innings on day-two after resuming at 327 for three.
Middle-order batter Yousuf Babar scored his second first-class century, the right-hander remained unbeaten on 119 off 203 balls (13 fours). Salman Ali Agha who completed his century yesterday was dismissed for 135 (17 fours, 209 balls). Aamer Yamin scored a breezy 43 off 33 balls (six fours, one six) to propel the side past the 450-mark. Khurram Shehzad and Akif Javed took three wickets apiece for Balochistan.
Southern Punjab collected the full five first innings batting points while Balochistan had to contend with two bowling points.
Balochistan roared back in the contest courtesy a blazing century by opener Shan Masood who was making his first-ever appearance for the team. The left-hander registered the 16th first-class century of his career, Shan scored 105 off only 82 balls (17 fours, one six). After Shan’s dismissal Balochistan stuttered to 184 for four before an unbroken 92-run partnership between Ayaz Tassawar (58 not out) and captain Bismillah Khan (57 not out) took them to 276 for four at stumps.
The two will resume the Balochistan innings tomorrow, 203 runs behind the Southern Punjab total. Their impressive batting so far have earned them two valuable batting points and they will be aiming to keep the scoring momentum going as they chase the full five batting points.
Aamer Yamin and Ali Usman with two wickets each were the two wicket-takers for Southern Punjab.
Over at the State Bank of Pakistan Stadium in the match between Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which is being live streamed on PCB’s YouTube channel, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa declared their first innings at 265 for nine after gaining a 120-run first innings lead over Sindh on day-two.
Resuming at the overnight 124 for two, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lost six wickets with 169 runs on the board. The innings was revived by all-rounder Asif Afridi who followed his three-wicket bowling performance with 50 off 44 balls (seven fours, one six).
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa added two batting points to their six-point bowling tally. Sindh collected three bowling points with fast bowler Sohail Khan playing a leading role with the ball with figures of 21.1-3-82-5 (37th first-class five-wicket haul).
Sindh started their second innings in a poor fashion as opener Ahsan Ali (2) and Omair Bin Yousuf (9) fell with only 11 runs on the board. At this stage, the seasoned pair of Khurram Manzoor and captain Asad Shafiq rescued the side.
The two had crossed their fifties and were at the crease when stumps were drawn for the day. Khurram has so far hit seven fours in his 59 (136 balls) while Asad’s even 50 has come off 96 balls with the help of eight fours.
Over at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex, resuming his innings at 141, the hugely promising Haider Ali registered the maiden double-century of his first-class career. The 21-year-old was eventually dismissed for a scintillating 206 off 221 balls (27 fours, four sixes).
Haider added 229 for the fourth-wicket with Faizan Riaz who contributed 67 as Northern amassed 445 for eight in 106 overs before declaring their innings.
Northern collected the full five batting points on offer, pacer Muhammad Ali took three wickets for Central Punjab.
Fast bowler Haris Rauf who was making his first Quaid-e-Azam Trophy appearance in the season then rocked the Central Punjab batters with his fearsome pace as he returned his best-ever first-class bowling haul.
The right-armer, fresh from representing Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh took a liking to the red ball taking six wickets for 41 runs from 15 overs of electrifying pace.
Hussain Talat with 51 punctuated with four fours and two sixes was the best Central Punjab performer with the bat, opener Imran Dogar scored 43 while Mohammad Saad and Ali Zaryab contributed 38 and 37.
Central Punjab finished the day reeling at 223 for eight, needing another 72 runs to avoid a follow-on with only two wickets in hand.
After gaining full five batting points, Northern have already accumolated three bowling points. They will be striving to collect three additional bowling points by bowling out Central Punjab with-in 100 overs of their innings when play resumes tomorrow.
Scores in brief:
Southern Punjab vs Balochistan –UBL Sports Complex, Karachi
Southern Punjab 483 all out, 117.5 overs (Salman Ali Agha 135, Yousuf Babar 119 not out, Zeeshan Ashraf 102; Kashif Shehzad 3-63, Akif Javed 3-78)
Balochistan 276 for 4, 44.5 overs (Shan Masood 105, Ayaz Tassawar 58 not out, Bismillah Khan 57 not out; Aamer Yamin 2-44)
Points so far: Southern Punjab – six, Balochistan – three.
Sindh vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa –State Bank of Pakistan Stadium, Karachi
Sindh 145 all out, 42.1 overs (Asad Shafiq 31, Faraz Ali 31; Irfanullah Shah 5-43, Asif Afridi 3-16) and 137 for 2, 43 overs (Khurram Manzoor 59 not out, Asad Shafiq 50 not out; Irfanullah Shah 1-24)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 265 for 9 (declared) 64.1 overs (Musadiq Ahmed 75, Asif Afridi 50, Iftikhar Ahmed 40; Sohail Khan 5-82, Mir Hamza 3-62)
Points so far: Sindh – three, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – eight.
Northern vs Central Punjab – National Bank of Pakistan Stadium, Karachi
Northern 445 for 8 (declared), 106 overs (Haider Ali 206, Faizan Riaz 67, Mohammad Huraira 54; Mohammad Ali 3-68)
Central Punjab 223 for 8, 60.3 overs (Hussain Talat 51, Imran Dogar 43; Haris Rauf 6-41)
Points so far: Northern – eight, Central Punjab – three.
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