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Karachi, 22 November 2020: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa edged closer to their second victory in the ongoing first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as they needed 63 runs with seven wickets in hand to beat title defenders Central Punjab in the fourth round fixture at the UBL Sports Complex.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were 108 for three at the close of play on Sunday with Adil Amin and Mehran Ibrahim unbeaten on 39 and 13 respectively.
Earlier in the day, off-spinner Sajid Khan recorded his third five-wicket haul of the 2020-21 season as he added two more wickets to his tally. The 27-year-old returned six for 101 from 36.2 overs of which 11 were maiden.
Sajid Khan took half of the Central Punjab’s wickets in the match as he accounted for four of their batsmen in the first innings. As such, his figures for the match are 10 for 157.
That the third day’s was turned into a contest despite Central Punjab five down for 65 and a second innings deficit of 13 runs at the start of play was due to an 80-run stand between Mohammad Saad and Saad Nasim, who resumed the proceedings at three and 14.
The two batsmen posted valiant half-centuries. Mohammad Saad top-scored with a 190-ball 77, while Saad Nasim made 52 runs from 70 balls. Both batsmen crunched 10 boundaries apiece.
Bilawal Iqbal, batting at 10, made a handy contribution with an unbeaten 48, which included six fours and a six.
Pacer Arshad Iqbal took three wickets for 42 runs.
Sindh’s Sharjeel Khan recorded a first-class century after almost seven years, blasting 121 runs from 126 balls against Southern Punjab at the National Stadium, which took his team’s second innings lead to 278.
In the broadcast match, which is being beamed around the globe through PCB’s YouTube channel, Sharjeel brought up his century in 99 balls and stitched a 130-run stand for the third wicket with Saud Shakeel, who is unbeaten on 45 and will resume the fourth day’s play with Hasan Mohsin (five) on Monday, after Sindh had lost two wickets for just one run and were 47 for two.
Over the course of his 179-minute stay at the crease, the left-handed opener smashed 16 fours and three sixes.
Sindh were 190 for three in 48 overs when stumps were drawn.
Earlier, Southern Punjab opener Zain Abbas missed out on what would have been his fifth century at this level as he was dismissed on 95. The left-handed batsman could add only 20 runs to his overnight score. He struck 14 fours in his 162-ball knock.
His overnight partner Saif Badar made 43 after resuming the day on 27.
With 67 off 89, Salman Ali Agha was the only notable run-getter for Southern Punjab. The middle-order batsman struck 12 boundaries.
Southern Punjab were all out for 295 in 86 overs. For bowling out Southern Punjab under 100 overs and ensuring they do not cross the 300-run mark, Sindh bagged four bonus points for bowling, while the batting side, who are also the table-toppers, pocketed two bonus points for batting.
Shahnawaz Dhani dismissed all three batsmen as he returned three for 74.
The pick of the bowlers for Sindh was Tabish Khan who added two more wickets to his tally to finish the innings with four for 83.
For the second time in the match, Balochistan’s Azeem Ghumman became victim of the nervous nineties as he was run out on 91 against Northern at the National Bank Sports Complex.
Balochistan were placed at a comfortable 223 for four from 48 overs and had an imposing 366-run second innings lead after Azeem anchored their innings over the course of his 125-ball stay.
The 29-year-old contributed 113 runs for the third wicket with Akbar-ur-Rehman, who is undefeated on 80 from 89 balls and will have the company of Ayaz Tasawar, who scored 71 in the first innings, when he walks out to bat tomorrow morning.
Akbar, to date, has struck eight fours and two sixes.
Northern were all out for 275 as Balochistan gathered four bonus points for bowling. The majority of the wickets were taken by Kashif Bhatti, who returned four for 114, while Taj Wali and Mohammad Talha accounted for two batsmen each.
All-rounder Mohammad Nawaz scored his career’s 12th half-century after resuming the day on 39.
The left-hander scored 67 from 166 balls, which included four fours.
Northern gathered two bonus points for batting.
Scores in brief:
At UBL Sports Complex, Central Punjab won the toss and elected to bat:
Central Punjab 158 all out, 66.2 overs (Usman Salahuddin 54, Bilal Asif 22, Ahmed Safi Abdullah 20; Sajid Khan 4-56, Imran Khan Snr 3-29, Khalid Usman 2-35) and 248 all out, 85.2 overs (Mohammad Saad 77, Saad Nasim 52, Bilawal Iqbal 48 not out, Ahmed Shehzad 21; Sajid Khan 6-101, Arshad Iqbal 3-42)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 236 all out, 81.3 overs (Khalid Usman 92 not out, Kamran Ghulam 43, Israrullah 25, Musadiq Ahmed 22, Adil Amin 22; Waqas Maqsood 3-41, Bilal Asif 3-107, Ahmed Safi Abdullah 2-41) and 108-3, 33 overs (Adil Amin 39 not out, Musadiq Ahmed 24; Ahmed Safi Abdullah 3-63)
First innings points: Central Punjab 5 (all bowling), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 7 (one batting, six bowling)
At the National Stadium, Sindh won the toss and elected to bat:
Sindh 383 all out, 111.5 overs (Omair Bin Yousuf 153, Asad Shafiq 141, Saad Ali 33; Zahid Mahmood 4-84, Zia-ul-Haq 2-54, Muhammad Imran 2-56, Bilawal Bhatti 2-73) and 190-3, 48 overs (Sharjeel Khan 121, Saud Shakeel 45 not out)
Southern Punjab 295 all out, 86 overs (Zain Abbas 95, Salman Ali Agha 67, Saif Badar 43, Imran Rafiq 42; Tabish Khan 4-83, Shahnawaz Dhani 3-74, Abrar Ahmed 2-119)
First innings points: Sindh 8 (four batting, four bowling), Southern Punjab 4 (two batting, two bowling)
At the National Bank Sports Complex, Northern elected to bowl (toss uncontested):
Balochistan 418 all out, 124.3 overs (Azeem Ghumman 95, Ayaz Tasawar 71, Kashif Bhatti 54, Ali Waqas 52, Bismillah Khan 38, Mohammad Talha 30, Taimur Ali 26, Imran Farhat 24; Nauman Ali 4-129, Nasir Nawaz 2-15, Mohammad Nawaz 2-71) and 223-4, 48 overs (Azeem Ghumman 91, Akbar-ur-Rehman 80 not out)
Northern 275 all out, 89.4 overs (Faizan Riaz 78, Mohammad Nawaz 67, Asif Ali 36, Hammad Azam 34, Umair Masood 24; Kashif Bhatti 4-114, Taj Wali 2-45, Mohammad Talha 2-46)
First innings points: Balochistan 7 (three batting, four bowling), Northern 4 (two batting, two bowling)