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| December 5, 2005 | Monday | Ziqa’ad 2, 1426 |
Sarfraz, Shahid give Sialkot early advantage in final
LAHORE, Dec 4: Sialkot, inspired by Sarfraz Ahmed and Shahid Yousuf, put up a clinical display to hold sway over Faisalabad on the opening day of Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Gold League final at Qadhafi Stadium on Sunday.
Left-arm pace duo of Sarfraz Ahmad and Zahid Saeed shared 10 wickets as Faisalabad were bowled out for 111 after being asked to bat first by Sialkot captain Imran Nazir.
By close of play, Sialkot were already in front by 11 runs as they reached 129 for four with diminutive Shahid Yousuf leading the way with an undefeated 67.
Sialkot, going into this match without two of their frontline bowlers Rana Navedul Hasan and Mohammad Asif because of national duty, were brilliantly served by Sarfraz and Zahid.
Sarfraz dismissed the top five Faisalabad batsmen on his way to capturing six for 28 in 16.3 overs while Zahid mopped up the tail to finish with four for 40, including three wickets in his last over.
At the start Faisalabad had looked on course for a decent first innings score. Imran Ali (44) and Mohammad Hafeez (28) provided them with an opening partnership of 78. But everything fell apart as all 10 wickets went down for the addition of 33 runs.
Imran, who was dropped on seven, capitalised to strike eight boundaries. Hafeez, the former Test opener, cracked five boundaries.
Sarfraz started the slide when he sent back Hafeez. He then removed Asif Hussain, skipper Misbah Haq and Imran Khalid as Faisalabad returned for lunch at 82 for four.
After the interval, Sarfraz and Zahid needed only 5.3 overs to terminate the Faisalabad innings. Six batsmen failed to trouble the scorer while Naved Latif was last out for 22.
Zahid, who was denied a hat trick by Shahid Nazir, sent back Ahmed Hayat and Mohammad Salman with the first two deliveries of his last over. Shahid Nazir also lost wicket to the sixth ball of the same over before Sarfraz had Naved Latif caught by Mansoor to complete the rout.
Sialkot responded with a steady score before Shahid Nazir struck twice in quick successions with the total on 30.
After losing captain Imran Nazir (21, four fours), Faisal Naved (12) and Atiqur Rahman (0) with 76 runs on the board, Shahid and Qaiser Abbas (18, three fours) came together to add 53 for the fourth-wicket.
The stand was broken in the penultimate over of the day when part-time medium-pacer Naved Latif had the left-handed Qaiser caught at the wicket by Mohammad Salman.
But Shahid Yousuf, who was let off by Imran Khalid on seven, then took full advantage of that reprieve to play the day’s solitary major knock on a pitch assisting seam bowling.
Shahid was severe on anything short during his 78-ball innings that includes eight hits to the fence.
When play was called off because of fading light with 15.3 overs still to be bowled, Mansoor Amjad had yet to open the account.
Scoreboard
FAISALABAD (1st Innings):
Mohammad Hafeez c Faisal b Sarfraz 28
Imran Ali lbw b Sarfraz 44
Asif Hussain c Khalid b Sarfraz 0
Misbahul Haq c Faisal b Sarfraz 3
Imran Khalid c Khalid b Zahid 0
Naved Latif c Mansoor b Sarfraz 22
Ijaz Ahmed Jr lbw b Sarfraz 6
Ahmed Hayat c Khalid b Zahid 0
Mohammad Salman c Mansoor b Zahid 0
Shahid Nazir c Khalid b Zahid 0
Samiullah Niazi not out 0
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-6, W-1) 8
TOTAL (all out, 33.3 overs) 111
FALL OF WKTS: 1-78, 2-78, 3-79, 4-82, 5-82, 6-99, 7-100, 8-100, 9-107.
BOWLING: Sarfraz Ahmed 16.3-6-28-6; Tahir Mughal 8-3-36-0; Zahid Saeed 9-1-40-4 (1w).
SIALKOT (1st Innings):
Imran Nazir b Shahid 21
Faisal Naved c Salman b Sami 12
Atiqur Rahman c Salman b Shahid 0
Shahid Yousuf not out 67
Qaiser Abbas c Salman b Naved 18
Mansoor Amjad not out 0
EXTRAS (LB-5, W-1, NB-5) 11
TOTAL (for four wkts, 35 overs) 129
FALL OF WKTS: 1-30, 2-30, 3-76, 4-129.
TO BAT: Shahzad Malik, Hafiz Khalid, Tahir Mughal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Zahid Saeed.
BOWLING (to-date): Shahid Nazir 14-3-42-2 (1w); Samiullah Niazi 16-3-58-1 (5nb); Ahmed Hayat 4-0-24-0; Naved Latif 1-1-0-1.
UMPIRES: Salim Badar and Asad Rauf.
MATCH REFEREE: Azhar Khan.
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