Central Punjab pacer Mohammad Ali’s six for 37 had Khyber Pakhtunkhwa struggling at 187 for nine and trailing by 83 when stumps were called for the second day’s play at Multan Cricket Stadium in the fifth round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2021-22.
The right-arm pacer accounted for Sahibzada Farhan (24), Nabi Gul (seven), Adil Amin (26), Rehan Afridi (18), Khalid Usman (11) and Niaz Khan (0).
The pacer’s remarkable spell has Central Punjab at the verge of collecting all six available points for bowling. They have already collected three points for removing eight or more wickets in 100 overs and will get further three if they dismiss the last Khyber Pakhtunkhwa batter under the score of 200.
It was 46 by Musadiq Ahmed and 42 not out by Asif Afridi that dragged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to 187. Asif, who usmashed three fours and four sixes in the 31 balls he faced, will be joined by Imran Khan Snr when play resumes on Friday.
Central Punjab after resuming the day on 206 for six were bowled out for 270 inside 10 overs as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa collected four bowling points. Mohammad Saad fell two runs short of a century as he fell on 98 after resuming the day on 64.
Imran, Sameen Gul and Asif Afridi picked up three wickets each.
Ahsan Ali followed up his triple century in the last round with a 62-ball 70 as Sindh managed 161 for three in reply of Southern Punjab’s 310 before bad light enforced the close of play at the Gaddafi Stadium.
The right-handed opener smashed 13 fours, before he became Sindh’s third wicket to fall after Khurram Manzoor and Ammad Alam were sent packing by Aamer Yamin and Zia-ul-Haq.
It was Saad Khan’s unbeaten 80-ball 54 (eight fours) which propelled Sindh to 161. He will resume the innings with his captain, Asad Shafiq, who is not out on 11, on Friday.
Earlier, Umar Siddiq converted his overnight 61 into 84.
The Southern Punjab skipper became Test cricketer Tabish Khan’s second victim. The destroyer-in-chief, however, was Sohail Khan, who dismissed four batters and gave away 62 runs in 26 overs.
Northern, in what is a remarkable comeback following a defeat to Southern Punjab in the last round, were 50 runs ahead of Balochistan at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad as they closed the day on 17 for none playing for the second time in the match.
It was Raza Hasan’s four wickets at the cost of 67 runs which rolled out Balochistan for 211. Bismillah Khan and Akbar-ur-Rehman scored half-centuries as they made 64 and 50. Northern’s Mehran Mumtaz took three wickets for 80, while Mubasir Khan returned two for 21.
By dismissing Balochistan inside 100 overs and under 250, Northern bagged five bowling points.
At the start of day, Balochistan had also bagged five points for rolling out Northern for 244 in 84.4 overs.
Toss Uncontested – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa opt to bowl against Central Punjab at Multan Cricket Stadium
Central Punjab 270 all out, 88.3 overs (Mohammad Saad 98, Ahmed Shehzad 36, Imran Dogar 32, Zafar Gohar 24, Saif Badar 23, Zafar Gohar 21 not out; Sameen Gul 3-55, Asif Afridi 3-57, Imran Khan Snr 3-97)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 187-9, 46 overs (Musadiq Ahmed 46, Asif Afridi 42 not out, Adil Amin 26, Sahibzada Farhan 24; Mohammad Ali 6-37)
Innings points – Central Punjab 5, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4
Toss Uncontested – Sindh opt to bowl against Southern Punjab at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Southern Punjab 310 all out, 101.3 overs (Umar Siddiq 84, Imran Rafiq 68, Umar Siddiq 61 not out, Zain Abbas 45, Yousuf Babar 36, Tayyab Tahir 24, Zia-ul-Haq 22; Sohail Khan 4-62, Tabish Khan 2-81, Mohammad Asghar 2-91)
Sindh 161-3, 35 overs (Ahsan Ali 70, Saad Khan 54 not out)
Innings points – Southern Punjab 4, Sindh 3
Northern won the toss and elected to bat against Balochistan at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
Northern 244 all out, 84.4 overs (Abdul Faseeh 47, Rohail Nazir 41, Umar Amin 37, Muhammad Huraira 33, Mehran Mumtaz 23, Aamir Jamal 22; Kashif Bhatti 5-92, Raza-ul-Hasan 2-37, Jalat Khan 2-68) and 17-0, 10 overs (Muhammad Huraira 12 not out, Abdul Faseeh 5Bismillah Khan 64, Akbar-ur-Rehman 50, Gohar Faiz 22; Raza Hasan 4-67, Mehran Mumtaz 3-80, Mubasir Khan 2-21)
Innings points – Northern 6, Balochistan 6 not out)
Balochistan 211 all out, 74.1 overs (
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