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Lahore: Sindh, Southern Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa dominated day two of the fifth round of three-day non-first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament on Wednesday.
At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi, Sindh took a 127-run first innings lead over Central Punjab as Danish Aziz’s four-wicket haul restricted the visitors to 228 runs in reply to Sindh’s first innings score of 355 runs. Raza Ali Dar top-scored with 48 while Farhan Khan made an unbeaten 41 for Central Punjab.
Sindh were off to a disastrous start in the second innings, they ended day two on 50 for the loss of four wickets with Ahmed Saifi taking three wickets, the hosts however, have an overall lead of 177 runs and would look to drive home the advantage on the third and final day.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa took control of their match against Balochistan at Peshawar’s Hayatabad Sports Complex.
The hosts took an 88-run lead in the first innings by responding with a 264-run total against Balochistan’s first innings score of 176 all out. Rehan Afridi scored 93 while Sajid Khan who took seven wickets in the first innings scored a brilliant 92 with the bat. Gohar Faiz took five wickets, while Haseeb Azam took three.
Sajid continued his dream run in the match by taking four second wicket innings as Balochistan ended day two at a precarious 127 for six. Fahad Iqbal with an unbeaten 43 was the only one to resist the home bowlers.
Balochistan will start the third and final day, a mere 39 runs ahead with only four wickets standing in their second innings.
Over at the Muzaffarabad Stadium, Southern Punjab dominated day two against Northern. Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar took four while left-arm seamer Zia-ul-Haq took three wickets as Southern Punjab blew away Northern for 117 runs in their first innings. Southern Punjab took a commanding 189-run lead and forced the hosts to follow-on.
Northern fared better with the bat and ended the day at 149 for two in their second innings. Umer Waheed with an unbeaten 62 led the fight back. Northern will start the final day still needing 40 runs to make Southern Punjab bat again.
Scores in brief:
Sindh v Central Punjab, NBP Stadium, Karachi
Sindh 355 all out, 78.2 overs (Ahsan Ali 119, Ammad Alam 80; Suleman Shafqat 5-64, Raza Hasan 3-68) and 50 for 4 in 28 overs (Ahsan Ali 13; Ahmed Saifi 3-12) v Central Punjab 228 in 80.4 overs (Raza Ali Dar 48, Farhan Khan 41 not out; Danish Aziz 4-66, Ashiq Ali 3-72)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Balochistan, Hayatabad Sports Complex, Peshawar
Balochistan 176, 67.2 overs (Shehzad Tareen 53, Awais Zia 32; Sajid Khan 7-51) and 127 for 6, 43 overs (Fahad Iqbal 43 not out, Awais Zia 34; Sajid Khan 4-32) v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 264, 65.4 overs (Rehan Afridi 93, Sajid Khan 92; Gohar Faiz 5-46)
Northern v Southern Punjab, Muzaffarabad Stadium, Muzaffarabad
Southern Punjab 306, 79 overs (Zain Abbas 126, Agha Salman 77; Salman Irshad 4-53, Shahzad Azam 4-54) v Northern 117, 40.5 overs (Zulfiqar Babar 4-23, Zia-ul-Haq 3-27) and after follow-on 149 for 2, 52 overs (Umer Waheed 62 not out, Afaq Raheem 37; Ataullah 1-20)