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QUAID-E-AZAM TROPHY: Northern face uphill task against KP

By Our Correspondent
September 17, 2019

ISLAMABAD: Northern were forced to follow on against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa despite a gritty 99 by debutant Haider Ali on the third day of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium on Monday.

National Under-19 opening batsman Haider’s effort was the only notable innings for Northern as the team were bowled out for just 262 in reply to KP’s huge first innings total of 529-6 declared.

Batting for the second time, Northern reached 105-2. They require another 159 runs to avoid innings defeat with eight wickets in hand.

Haider, who was 56 not out overnight, was unlucky to miss a century on his first-class debut by just one run. The 18-year-old right-handed opener faced 208 balls and hit 11 fours and two sixes in his 297-minute stay at the wicket. Imad scored 33 down the order.

Left arm pacer Junaid Khan (3-40) and left arm spinner Zohaib Khan (3-21) were pick of the bowlers for KP.

Northern’s middle order completely failed with the likes of Umar Amin (20), Rohail Nazir (16), Mohammad Nawaz (16) and Asif Ali (14).

Though Imad Wasim (33) stayed at the wicket for a brief time, once he got out rest was formality as the team was sent packing for 262.

Umar Amin (32 not out) and Rohail Nazir (21 not out) were at the crease for Northern after early loss of Haider (27) and out of form Afaq Rahim (21).

At the Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, Central Punjab were 348-5 in reply to Southern Punjab’s mammoth first innings score of 467 when stumps were drawn on day three.

Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad celebrated their call-up in the 20-player provisional squad for this month’s series against Sri Lanka by hitting impressive half centuries. Umar hit a blistering 89 with 10 fours and two sixes, while Ahmed, who started the day at the score of 22, was dismissed after scoring 63 from 168 balls with eight fours.

Azhar Ali was the other batsman to get to a half century, scoring 73 off 157 balls with 10 fours. He had started the day at 20 and together with Ahmed put on 130 runs for the first wicket, which came to an end in the afternoon session when the former captain nicked Aamer Yamin’s wide delivery to wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal.

Forty-two runs later and on the first ball after drinks, Ahmed lobbed Rahat Ali’s length delivery on his body to Sami Aslam, who guarded the mid-wicket region.

Rahat struck again, picking up prized wicket of Central Punjab’s captain Babar Azam. The other end, however, was held firmly by Umar, who batted one-down. The 29-year-old fell 11 runs short of what would have been a fascinating century when he edged Rahat (34-3) to Adnan.

The hard-hitting batsman was quick to pounce on anything loose that slow left-arm orthodox Mohammad Irfan and leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood bowled, breathing life in the crowd perched in the Fazal Mahmood and Abdul Hafeez Kardar stands.

Aamer, who had brought a threatening opening-stand to an end, struck again as the sun set on the Gaddafi Stadium by removing Kamran Akmal (33). This proved to be the final wicket of the day.

By the virtue of dismissing all Southern Punjab batsmen in the first innings, Central Punjab have three bonus points in the bag. If they cross the 350-run mark inside 110 overs, it would take their bonus points tally to seven.

Southern Punjab, after crossing the 400-run mark and managing five wickets, have six points thus far.

Scores in brief: At Abbottabad Stadium: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 526-9d, 136.4 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 176, Ashfaq Ahmed 106, Adil Amin 73, Iftikhar Ahmed 35, Fakhar Zaman 33, Sahibzada Farhan 29; Shadab Khan 4-151). Northern 262 all-out, 90.3 overs (Haider Ali 99, Imad Wasim 33, Afaq Raheem 25, Umar Amin 20; Zohaib Khan 3-21, Junaid Khan 3-40, Irfan Khan 2-69) and 105-2, 39 overs (Umar Amin 32 not out, Haider Ali 27, Rohail Nazir 21 not out, Afaq Raheem 21).

At UBL Sports Complex Karachi: Sindh 473-5d, 169.5 overs (Abid Ali 249 not out, Khurram Manzoor 105, Sarfaraz Ahmed 44 not out, Asad Shafiq 37; Yasir Shah 3-127). Balochistan 191-3, 98 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 111 not out, Haris Sohail 24, Azeem Ghumman 21, Imran Farhat 16 not out; Kashif Bhatti 2-61)

At Gaddafi Stadium Lahore: Southern Punjab 467 all-out, 134 overs (Sami Aslam 243, Adnan Akmal 113, Aamer Yamin 64; Waqas Maqsood 4-83, Hasan Ali 3-100, Bilal Asif 2-116). Central Punjab 348-5 in 108 overs (Umar Akmal 89, Azhar Ali 73, Ahmed Shehzad 63, Rahat Ali 3-34, Aamir Yamin 2-57).