Mohammad Mohsin, Khalid Usman star with bat and ball

Lahore: Mohammad Moshin and Khalid Usman made contributions in both departments to hand Khyber Pakhtunkhwa control of the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy ninth round fixture against Central Punjab at NBP Stadium.

On the second day of the four-day match, their half-centuries helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ranked second on the points table, to put a decent first innings score of 355 all-out before they shared five wickets to have the table-toppers struggling at 154 for five.

The pair knitted a 119-run ninth-wicket partnership, 112 of which were made on Tuesday, to help the visitors recover from a middle-order collapse which saw them slip to 220 for eight from 152 for two. Both had resumed their innings at the scores of seven.

Khalid Usman, the 33-year-old bowling all-rounder, scored an unbeaten 72 – his 22nd first-class half-century. He cracked six fours and a six in his 104-ball stay at the crease.

Mohsin, from the other end, scored 56 runs from 103 balls, hitting five fours. This was the 23-year-old’s first half-century in the format.

Khalid and Mohsin took the score to 308 for eight by the end of the 110th over, which bagged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa three points, while Central Punjab added only two points to their tally.

Zafar Gohar and Bilal Asif, who picked up four and three wickets on the opening day, failed to add to their wickets’ tally.

It was the leg-spin of Usman Qadir which brought an end to the Khalid-Mohsin partnership. Usman took two wickets for 60 runs.

Mohsin’s leg-spin and Khalid’s slow left-arm orthodox helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa make early inroads when Central Punjab came out to bat as both Central Punjab openers, Ahmed Shehzad (0) and Salman Butt (13), were back in the pavilion with only 28 runs on board.

A 50-run partnership between Mohammad Saad (49) and Umar Akmal (34) denied the spin-duo any further inroads, albeit for a short time.

Khalid to date has three wickets for 30 runs in 18 overs, while Mohsin has taken two wickets for 44 runs in 12 overs.

For Central Punjab, experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal (38 not out) and young Rizwan Hussain (nine not out) will begin the proceedings on Wednesday morning.

Scores in brief:

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 355 all-out, 123.3 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 96, Khalid Usman 72 not out, Mohammad Moshin 56, Israrullah 51, Ashfaq Ahmed 29; Zafar Gohar 4-143, Bilal Asif 3-98, Usman Qadir 2-60)

Central Punjab 154-5, 61 overs (Mohammad Saad 49, Kamran Akmal 38 not out, Umar Akmal 34; Khalid Usman 3-30, Mohammad Mohsin 2-44)