Imran and Fawad make tons as Sindh and Balochistan match ends in draw

Karachi: Sindh’s Fawad Alam scored his fourth century of the season and Balochistan’s Imran Butt also continued his run of form with another ton on the final day of four-day tenth-round of first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match at the National Stadium on Thursday.

Balochistan had reached 181 for one in 26.2 overs in their second innings when the match ended in a draw.

Earlier Sindh had totaled 515 in 170.1 overs in their first innings in reply to Balochistan’s 471 for nine declared.

Butt who was out cheaply in the first innings made amends with a fine 101 not out from 99 balls with 15 fours.

This allowed him to finish as the top run-getter in the tournament’s round matches with 934 runs, a tally that included four centuries.

Balochistan’s captain, Imran Farhat was also undefeated on 40 from 26 balls when the match ended.

Fawad’s 34th century of his first-class career was the highlight of a day where Sindh responded with 515 in 170.1 overs in reply to Balochistan’s first innings total of 471 for nine.

The left-hander faced 233 balls and hit 12 fours and a six in his innings of 116 runs after he resumed on the overnight score of 69.

Fawad who has scored over 12,000 runs in first class cricket also shared a productive seventh wicket partnership of 47 with Anwar Ali who made 58 runs.

All-rounder, Anwar who has been in good form since returning from an injury to first class cricket this season stroked nine fours in his 117 balls innings.

Sindh lost their overnight batsman, Hasan Mohsin for 23 to Khurram Shehzad after which Fawad and Anwar stood firm.

After Fawad was caught by Bismillah Khan off Taj Wali, Anwar produced a ninth wicket stand of 52 runs with Mir Hamza (14).

Taj Wali and Jalat Khan finished with three wickets apiece.

Balochistan finished at the bottom of the six-team table at the completion of the 10 rounds while Sindh were placed fifth going winless in the tournament.

Scores in brief:

Balochistan 471-9 declared, 150.2 overs (Imran Farhat 137, Akbar-ur-Rehman 122, Amad Butt 106, Asif Zakir 53; Mir Hamza 4-98, Sohail Khan 3-75) and 181-2, 26.2 overs ( Imran Butt 101 not out, Imran Farhat 40 not out)

Sindh 515 all out, 170.1 overs (Saud Shakeel 151, Fawad Alam 116, Khurram Manzoor 109, Anwar Ali 58; Jalat Khan 3-96, Taj Wali 3-122)

Result: Match drawn