Nauman’s five-wicket haul puts Northern on top

Rawalpindi: Left-arm spinner Nauman Ali took a five-wicket haul as Northern bowled out Balochistan for 301 on the third day of their first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fourth round match at the KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi on Monday.

At the draw of stumps on Monday, Northern, who scored 450 all out in the first innings, were 75 without loss in 18 overs. They now have an overall lead of 224 runs.

Zeeshan Malik made up for his failure in the first inning with an aggressive unbeaten 54, which was laced with eight fours and a six in 59 balls. First-innings centurion Haider Ali was 20 not out.

At the bottom of the points table after three rounds, Northern will be looking to play at a brisk pace, set Balochistan a target and then put Imran Farhat’s team under pressure on the last day.

Balochistan resumed the day at the overnight score of 119 for two, relatively well placed. But they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were not successful in stitching a big partnership to challenge Northern’s first innings total.

Asif Zakir played a fine innings of 61 that included nine fours and came off 129 deliveries. He shared an 82-run fifth wicket partnership with Bismillah Khan (30).

Imran Butt could add only one run to his overnight score of 58 while Amad Butt contributed 23.

Nauman, who dismissed Abubakar Khan (50) before bad light brought a premature end to Sunday’s play, bowled a tight line and length and troubled almost all batsmen.

The left-arm spinner was rewarded for his hard work and finished with impressive figures of 5-52. Haris Rauf also bowled well to take three wickets for 73 runs.

Balochistan earned 3 batting points while Northern also secured 3 bowling points.

Scores in brief:

Northern 450 all out, 105.4 overs (Faizan Riaz 141, Haider Ali 133, Ali Sarfraz 50, Umar Amin 34; Amad Butt 3-57, Mohammad Asghar 2-62, Taj Wali 2-108, Yasir Shah 2-119) and 75 without loss in 18 overs (Zeeshan Malik 54 not out, Haider Ali 20 not out).

Balochistan 301 all out, 101.5 overs (Asif Zakir 61, Imran Butt 59, Abubakar Khan 50, Bismillah Khan 30, Amad Butt 23; Nauman Ali 5-52, Haris Rauf 3-73).