Zafar Gohar, Bilal Asif engineer Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s batting collapse

Lahore:Central Punjab’s spinners spun the web around Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s batsmen on day one of the four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy ninth round fixture at Karachi’s NBP Stadium.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, after winning the toss and electing to bat, were 227 for eight in 90 overs as Zafar Gohar and Bilal Asif shared seven wickets between them.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lost seven wickets for 72 runs with slow left-arm Zafar and off-spinner Bilal returning four for 101 and three for 67.

Openers Sahibzada Farhan (96) and Israrullah (51) provided a steady start as Khyber Pakthunkhwa took Lunch with 70 runs on board with any loss of wicket.

The openers knitted a 97-run partnership before Zafar struck with the ball to trap Israrullah LBW.

Farhan, who struck 11 fours in his 244-ball stay at the crease, and Ashfaq Ahmed (29) crafted a 51-run stand over the course of the afternoon session.

The collapse ensued in the evening session, with the fall of Ashfaq’s wicket, as no Khyber Pakhtunkhwa middle-order batsman entered double-digits.

Aizaz Cheema, who has returned two five-fers in the last two first-class matches, was the other bowler to pick a wicket on the opening day as he denied Farhan his maiden first-class century.

Mohammad Mohsin and Khalid Usman batted at seven each when the day’s play came to end.

When the second day’s play commences on Tuesday morning, Central Punjab will look to consolidate their position on the top of the points table by bagging maximum (3) bowling points.

They have already added two points to their account and one more wicket, inside the 110-over cut-off, will get them the third point.

Second-ranked Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have bagged one point for crossing the 200-run mark.

Scores in brief:

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 227-8, 90 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 96, Israrullah 51, Ashfaq Ahmed 29; Zafar Gohar 4-101, Bilal Asif 3-67) v Central Punjab