Sahibzada Farhan’s maiden first-class century and Israrullah’s breezy 160 put Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 73 runs ahead of Sindh on day three of their second round fixture of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2021-22 at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.
The pair put a solid 226 runs for the opening wicket and the partnership helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa take their points tally from the match to six as it added four batting points.
Farhan smashed 13 fours and a six as he made 100 off 198 balls. The right-handed opener had to wait 54 innings to record his first-ever century.
He was duly supported by Israrullah who smoked 19 fours and three sixes from the 228 balls he faced. In the previous round, Israrullah had smashed a half-century in both innings.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were 440 for four in 127 overs with their captain Iftikhar Ahmed (81 not out) and wicketkeeper-batter Rehan Afridi (43 not out) at the crease.
At the Multan Cricket Stadium, Balochistan’s Imam-ul-Haq smashed his sixth first-class ton as he scored 109 off 256 with the help of 12 fours against Southern Punjab. The left-handed batter struck a 214-run opening partnership with Imran Butt, who missed out a century by five runs when he was bowled by Muhammad Imran.
Muhammad Imran also denied Haris Sohail a half-century as he got rid of the left-hander on 49.
On the last day of the match, Ayaz Tasawar and wicketkeeper-batter Bismillah Khan will resume Balochistan innings at 416 for four. They have batted 136.3 overs. Ayaz is unbeaten on 65 (eight fours), while Bismillah is batting at 56 (nine fours).
Balochistan bagged three batting points as they were 302 for three after 100 overs.
Northern pacer Musa Khan followed-up his maiden five-fer in the last match with four for 61 to put his side ahead of Central Punjab at the Gaddafi Stadium.
The right-armer accounted for Abid Ali, top run-getter with 175-ball 81, Azhar Ali (17), Mohammad Saad (29) and Saad Nasim (two).
Central Punjab – who began the day on 68 for the loss of no wicket – were 271 for nine in 93.4 overs and Musa’s exploits helped Northern bag three bowling points. While Musa will be looking to bag another five-wicket haul on Saturday, Northern will be looking to bag bonus points for bowling out an opposition under 300.
Earlier, both openers – Abid and Ahmed Shehzad (58) – scored half-centuries and added 110 runs for the first wicket. Hussain Talat played a solid knock in the middle-order as he made 62 off 95 (eight fours and two sixes).
Scores in brief:
Sindh choose to bat after winning the toss against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad
Sindh 367 all out, 110.1 overs (Saad Khan 129, Fawad Alam 122, Sohail Khan 28, Ashiq Ali 26, Mohammad Hasan 25; Niaz Khan 5-58, Imran Khan Snr 3-58)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 440-4, 127 overs (Israrullah 160, Sahibzada Farhan 100, Iftikhar Ahmed 81 not out, Rehan Afridi 43 not out, Adil Amin 25)
Innings points – Sindh 4, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 6
Southern Punjab choose to bat after winning the toss against Balochistan at Multan Cricket Stadium
Southern Punjab 457-5dec, 98.5 overs (Tayyab Tahir 221, Azam Khan 85, Imran Rafiq 81, Umar Siddiq 32, Zain Abbas 30; Junaid Khan 2-87)
Balochistan 416-4, 136.3 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 109, Imran Butt 95, Ayaz Tasawar 65 not out, Bismillah Khan 56 not out; Muhammad Imran 2-74)
Innings points – Southern Punjab 6, Balochistan 4
Central Punjab elected to bowl after winning the toss against Northern at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
Northern 455-9dec, 132.5 overs (Faizan Riaz 213, Sarmad Bhatti 82, Rohail Nazir 54, Nasir Nawaz 46; Ehsan Adil 3-60, Zafar Gohar 3-141)
Central Punjab 271-9, 93.4 overs (Abid Ali 81, Hussain Talat 62, Ahmed Shehzad 58; Musa Khan 4-61, Nauman Ali 2-92)
Innings points – Northern 6, Central Punjab 2
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