February 08, 2007	Thursday	Muharram 19, 1428

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LAHORE, Feb 7: An unbeaten century by Bilal Khilji and equally good batting by Kashif Naved and Usman Tariq inspired Multan to 326 for four against Islamabad on the first day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Silver League final at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.

The left-handed Bilal was batting with 132 off 228 balls as Multan made mockery of Islamabad skipper Bilal Asad’s decision to field first on a batsmen-friendly strip.

Depleted by loss of key bowlers, Azhar Mahmood and Rao Iftikhar, who are in South Africa, Islamabad bowling struggled throughput the day.

Medium pacer Zohaib Ahmed claimed two for 71 but was expensive as Bilal, Kashif and Usman blazed away nicely.

Bilal, who had scored 416 runs in the league matches, featured in two big partnerships after Multan lost skipper Saeed Anwar (28) and Yasir Arafat (0), both to Zohaib. Saeed departed after he mistimed a hook and was caught at long-leg by Saad Altaf. He hit four boundaries.

With the addition of four runs, Yasir was brilliantly caught by Fayyaz Ahmed at gully. But Bilal and Usman then consolidated the innings as they combined to add 97 for the third wicket in 119 minutes. On the way Bilal was let off by Bazid Khan, who failed to grab a difficult chance at first slip off medium-pacer Rauf Akbar.

Off-spinner Afaq Rahim finally broke the partnership when Usman was bowled off an inside edge. He scored a 129-ball 56, with the aid of 10 boundaries.

Bilal, however, found another reliable partner in Kashif Naved. The pair shared a fourth-wicket stand of 134 in as many minutes before the Kashif fell to the second new ball. Rauf Akbar had him caught behind for 72, a 109-ball knock that included 11 fours.

Bilal, who had reached his century off 200 balls with 16 boundaries and one six, has so far hit 22 fours and one six.

Azhar Shafiq made 15 in the unbroken stand of 48 with Bilal.

Scoreboard

MULTAN (1st Innings):

Saeed Anwar Jr c Saad b Zohaib 28

Usman Tariq b Afaq 56

Yasir Arafat c Fayyaz b Zohaib 0

Bilal Khilji not out 132

Kashif Naved c Naeem b Rauf 76

Azhar Shafiq not out 15

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-5, W-3, NB-11) 23

TOTAL (for four wkts, 90 overs) 326

FALL OF WKTS: 1-43, 2-47, 3-144, 4-278.

TO BAT: Kamran Hussain, Gulraiz Sadaf, Abdur Rauf, Azharullah, Tahir Maqsood.

BOWLING (to-date): Rauf Akbar 25-4-83-1 (6nb); Saad Altaf 16-4-56-0 (4nb) (1w); Zohaib Ahmed 15-4-71-2 (1nb, 2w); Bilal Asad 4-1-12-0; Immad Wasim 16-6-49-0; Bazid Khan 2-0-6-0; Raheel Majeed 2-0-10-0; Afaq Rahim 10-2-30-1.

ISLAMABAD: Afaq Raheem, Atif Ashraf, Raheel Majeed, Bilal Asad, Bazid Khan, Fayyaz Ahmed, Naeem Anjum, Immad Wasim, Saad Altaf, Rauf Akbar, Zohaib Ahmed.

UMPIRES: Mian Aslam and Siddique Khan.

MATCH REFEREE: Azhar Khan.

OFFICIAL SCORER: Abdul Hameed.