November 10, 2001	Saturday	Shaba’an 23, 1422

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

KARACHI, Nov 9: Faisal Iqbal stroked his third century in the current Patron’s Trophy Grade-I Championship to help PIA declare their first innings at 515 for eight against PWD at UBL Sports Complex here Friday.

PWD, however, made a spirited reply to reach 86 for one when stumps were drawn for the second day with Imran Khan batting on 37 and Afsar Nawaz 20.

Imran took heavy toll of medium-pacer Aizaz Cheema by smashing three boundaries in an over that produced 21 runs. But once the spinners came on, the opener struggled.

Zahid Ghauri contributed 15 in the first wicket stand worth 58 before he failed to read an armer from PIA skipper Asif Mujtaba and was comprehensively bowled, trying an ambitious cut.

Needing another 280 to avoid the follow-on, PWD face a daunting task against ace off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who is certain to come into his own on the last two days after taking a two-month break from the game.

But the day really belonged to Faisal Iqbal. The Test right-hander, who will be 20 next month, converted his overnight score of 80 into 126 to become the leading batsman in the championship with a tally of 743 runs.

Faisal struck 11 fours during his 275-ball knock that spanned just over six hours. Shoaib Mohammad added only 17 to his Thursday’s score of 146. The veteran opener occupied the crease for 435 minutes and faced 342 deliveries. The second wicket pair shared a partnership of 238 in 306 minutes. Both fell caught behind off Bilal Asad.

Test star Yousuf Youhana made 41 off 64 balls with the aid of five fours while Yasir Hameed struck 38 off 51 balls, including six hits to the fence.

Afsar Nawaz claim four dismissals while donning the gloves in place of wicket-keeper Rao Wasim, who hurt his right knee in a freak incident Thursday night.