KARACHI: Seasoned teams Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Habib Bank Limited (HBL) went through contrasting fortunes on the opening day of their Silver League semi-finals in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship on Friday.

PIA suffered the misfortune of being sent packing for only 120 off 33.1 overs in their first innings after they had lost the toss as the SBP skipper, Usman Salahuddin, wasted no time in taking advantage of the prevailing bowl-first conditions at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.

Left-arm seamer Rizwan Haider took care of unreliable PIA top-order batting by capturing the first five wickets. Among his victims was Faisal Iqbal who hung around for 52 minutes to score 12 from 28 balls until he was caught at the wicket by Maqbool Ahmed.

At 70-5 it seemed there was going to be no recovery since at the same total Shaharyar Ghani was dismissed by the first-change paceman Zahoor Khan for two.

Zahoor also took the next three wickets to fall before Rizwan returned to deservingly grab the final wicket to finish with excellent analysis of 6-57 in 16.1 overs. Zahoor provided tremendous support at the other end with figures of 4-35 from 14 overs.

With the ball darting it was tough for the batsmen to survive for long; Shoaib Khan played the longest innings as he top-scored with 22 from 47 balls in a stay of 81 minutes.

The conditions didn’t change much when it was the turn of SBP batsmen to face the music. When stumps were drawn for the day, they had limped to 113-7 in 35 overs.

Opener Mukhtar Ahmed was belligerent enough to strike six boundaries in scoring 33 from 47 balls in 72 minutes. Naved Yasin remains SBP’s last hope of giving lead of the first innings on Saturday.

Naved had made 32 in his undefeated 42-ball knock featuring four boundaries.

Anwar Ali returned to domestic circuit with three wickets for 26 runs in nine overs while in-form new-ball duo of Ali Imran Pasha and Najaf Shah claimed two wickets apiece.

The situation at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Mirpur was more in favour of batsmen who, inspired by Rameez Aziz, carried HBL to 241-4 after Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) had decided to field first after their captain Usman Tariq won the toss.

After losing Imran Farhat (15 off 33 balls, two fours) and his makeshift opening partner Aftab Khan (3) inside the opening 11 overs, Rameez ensured that it was going to be HBL’s day.

The diminutive right-hander, who played for Pakistan at the under-19 level, had crossed the three-figure mark only three times in 53 first-class matches, but none of those innings was as significant as the one he produced on Friday.

Rameez dominated the bowling to hammer 19 boundaries on his way to 120 from 188 balls to wrest the initiative from the opposition.

With a final spot at stake, HBL were grateful to Rameez for coming to their rescue in an emphatic manner. He lost Bilal Shafayat with the total on 72.

Hasan Raza played second fiddle to Rameez in the fourth-wicket partnership yielding 124 runs in 138 minutes.

After Hasan departed for a 78-ball 37 (five fours), ex-international Kamran Hussain (25) helped Rameez put on 45 for the ongoing fifth-wicket stand.

Close of play scores on Friday (day one of four):

Semi-finals:

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: PIA 120 in 33.1 overs (Shoaib Khan 22; Rizwan Haider 6-57, Zahoor Khan 4-35); SBP 113-7 in 35 overs (Mukhtar Ahmed 33, Naved Yasin 32 not out; Anwar Ali 3-26, Ali Imran Pasha 2-31, Najaf Shah 2-33).

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur: HBL 241-4 in 74 overs (Rameez Aziz 120 not out, Hasan Raza 37, Kamran Hussain 25 not out) vs SSGC.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2014