December 9, 2003	Tuesday	Shawwal 14, 1424

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KARACHI, Dec 8: Pakistan Customs made a solid start to reach 241 for three in their first innings against debutants PTCL after a two-hour delay in the Patron’s Trophy match at Quaid-i-Azam Cricket Park on Monday.

Overnight dew left the pitch and the surrounding area soggy, forcing the Steel Town ground staff to conduct a marathon clean up operation, a task that was efficiently carried out. The match officials have decided to make up for the time lost with an early start, conditions permitting, in the remaining three days.

Kashif Siddique dominated the first half of the innings after skipper Aamir Bashir had won the toss. The left-hander struck 10 boundaries on his way 82 off 103 balls.

Bilal Khilji, another left-hander, was also in good nick, striking 11 boundaries in making 69. Aamir Bashir also completed a half-century, reaching an unbeaten 59 at draw of stumps.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN CUSTOMS (1st Innings):

Kashif Siddique c Zulqarnain b Khalil 82

Rawait Khan b Tabish 20

Bilal Khilji c Shahzad b Tabish 69

Aamir Bashir not out 59

Kamran Hussain not out 8

EXTRAS (NB-3) 3

TOTAL (for three wkts, 63 overs) 241

FALL OF WKTS: 1-42, 2-121, 3-212.

TO BAT: Nisar Abbas, Shahbaz Butt, Junaid Zia, Atif Maqbool, Stephen John, Imran Ali.

BOWLING (to-date): Riaz Afridi 8-1-29-0; Mohammad Khalil 18-1-71-1 (2nb); Mohammad Hussain 16-4-67-0; Tabish Nawab 19-5-56-2; Mohammad Fayyaz 2-0-18-0 (1nb).

PTCL: Babar Naeem, Naved Latif, Shiraz Khalid, Mohammad Fayyaz, Shahzad Malik, Mohammad Hussain, Zulqarnain Haider, Riaz Afridi, Jawwad Hameed, Tabish Nawab, Mohammad Khalil.

UMPIRES: Shakeel Khan and Athar Zaidi.

REFEREE: Naeem Ahmed.