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LAHORE, Nov 12: A splendid partnership of 218 between Azhar Ali and Adnan Raza helped Punjab overcome a poor start on the first day of the RBS Pentangular Cup match against Balochistan at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Wednesday.
Azhar, who hit a century in the previous match against Sindh, was batting on a patient 99 as Punjab went to stumps at 250 for three after stand-in Balochistan skipper Saeed bin Nasir elected to field at the toss.
Mohammad Hafeez, currently out of favour with the national selectors, went cheaply when he was bowled by medium-pacer Asad Ali for three. Umar Akmal made only 10 before left-arm paceman Kamran Hussain had him caught by Usman Tariq.
Adnan, who arrived at 32 for two, was the dominant partner in the third-wicket stand. He struck 10 fours and one six in scoring 113 off 213 balls during his stay of 281 minutes.
Adnan was caught by Saeed bin Nasir off Azharullah.
Azhar batted for 331 minutes to strike eight boundaries in his 256-ball knock.
Scoreboard
PUNJAB (1st Innings):
Muhammad Hafeez b Asad 3
Azhar Ali not out 99
Umar Akmal c Usman b Kamran 10
Adnan Raza c Saeed bin Nasir b Azhar 113
Ayub Dogar not out 0
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-5, NB-16) 25
TOTAL (for three wkts, 81.2 overs) 250
FALL OF WKTS: 1-7, 2-32, 3-250.
TO BAT: Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Salman, Abdul Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Imran Ali, Mohammad Talha.
BOWLING (to-date): Kamran Hussain 22.2-8-37-1 (5nb); Asad Ali 17-0-65-1 (10nb); Azharullah 16-2-53-1 (1nb); Zulfiqar Babar 20-5-60-0; Saeed Anwar Jr 4-0-19-0; Usman Tariq 2-0-7-0.
BALOCHISTAN: Shoaib Khan Jr, Usman Tariq, Saeed Anwar Jr, Rameez Alam, Saeed bin Nasir, Bilal Khilji, Kamran Hussain, Gulraiz Sadaf, Zulfiqar Babar, Asad Ali, Azharullah.
UMPIRES: Riazuddin and Iqbal Butt.
MATCH REFEREE: Abdul Sami Khan.
