February 02, 2007	Friday	Muharram 13, 1428

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KARACHI, Feb 1: A superb unbeaten century by Saeed bin Nasir spurred Karachi Urban to 294 for two against Rawalpindi on the opening day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Gold League match at the National Stadium here on Thursday.

Saeed reached three-figure for the first time this season in the last over of the day while dominating a splendid third-wicket partnership that has so far yielded 184 runs in three hours and 40 minutes, with Asif Zakir.

Saeed, who once was in reckoning for Test honours not long ago, looked in supreme touch as he unleashed 14 fours and one six in his 170-ball.

Asif, normally an aggressive right-hander, played second fiddle to Saeed during his solid 76 off 181 deliveries. He struck nine boundaries.

Karachi Urban dominated the proceedings from the start once skipper Hasan Raza won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first. Openers Agha Sabir and Khurram Manzoor provided a perfect launching pad in a stand of 96.

The left-handed Agha outscored his partner to blast nine fours on his way to 58 off 114 balls before being trapped leg-before by medium-pacer Yasir Arafat.

Khurram fell in the next over in the same manner to left-arm medium-pacer Sohail Tanvir. The young right-hander hit five boundaries in making 38.

But thereafter it was hard toil for the Rawalpindi side as skipper Mohammad Wasim used no less than eight bowlers including himself. But none of them could make any impression on either Saeed or Asif as the partnership flourished.

Scoreboard

KARACHI URBAN (1st Innings):

Agha Sabir lbw b Yasir 58

Khurram Manzoor lbw b Sohail 38

Asif Zakir not out 76

Saeed bin Nasir not out 100

EXTRAS (B-3, LB-6, NB-3) 12

TOTAL (for two wkts, 90 overs) 284

FALL OF WKTS: 1-96, 2-100.

TO BAT: Hasan Raza, Mohtashim Ali, Amin-ur-Rehman, Tahir Khan, Tanvir Ahmed, Rajesh Ramesh, Azam Hussain.

BOWLING (to-date): Yasir Arafat 16-3-50-1; Najaf Shah 18-6-42-0 (1nb); Sohail Tanvir 29-6-86-1 (2nb); Akhtar Ayub 8-0-40-0; Babar Naeem 8-1-16-0; Awais Zia 5-0-25-0; Naveed Qureshi 5-0-11-0; Mohammad Wasim 1-0-5-0.

RAWALPINDI: Babar Naeem, Awais Zia, Usman Saeed, Mohammad Wasim, Naveed Qureshi, Pervez Aziz, Yasir Arafat, Sohail Tanvir, Sajid Mahmood, Najaf Shah, Akhtar Ayub.

UMPIRES: Mian Aslam and M. Akbar Khan.

MATCH REFEREE: Anwar Khan.

OFFICIAL SCORER: Muhammad Ahsan.