KARACHI: Thirteen wickets fell on a dramatic first day of the final-round Gold League fixture of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship between National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Port Qasim Authority (PQA) here on Saturday.

Spinners thrived on the NBP Sports Complex pitch with just three wickets taken by fast bowler Sohail Khan.

Winning the toss was always going to be a premium and NBP’s first-innings total of 249 may be enough to challenge PQA who stuttered to 37-3 at stumps.

Opener Bilal Qureshi, 19-year-old left-hander born in Al-Khobar (Saudi Arabia), marked his fourth appearance in first-class with a maiden half-century. He made 62 off 106 balls with seven fours.

Akbar-ur-Rehman, who added 82 with Bilal, scored 72 (126 balls, seven fours) and Qaiser Abbas 41.

Off-spinner Tabish Nawab, making a rare comeback, grabbed five wickets for 65 runs in 21 overs with Sohail taking three for 61.

Mohammad Nawaz, better known for batting, caused anxiety in the ranks with two wickets for 13 with his occasional left-arm spin with Adnan Rasool dismissing Umar Amin to what became the last ball of the day.

Seamer Manzoor Khan, playing his second first-class game, picked up five wickets for 22 runs in 14 overs to help Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) bundle Wapda out for a paltry 90 at the Southend Club Ground.

Opting to bat first upon winning the toss was not a bad option when Wapda openers put on 43 but once Zeeshan Ali was trapped lbw by spinner Imran Khalid for 30, the rot set in. Imran finished with four for 17 in 13 overs.

But SNGPL, in reply, didn’t do well either. In 48.1 overs they were all out for 133. In-form opener Naeemuddin, however, had enough time to become the first batsman this season to reach 1,000 runs on he was on 23 on his way to 32.

Slow left-armer Khalid Usman led Wapda’s comeback with six for 42 in 19 overs.

Ammar Hasan struck 90 (120 balls, 12 fours and three sixes) as United Bank collected 254 all out in their first innings after batting first against ZTBL at the UBL Sports Complex.

Paceman Kashif Daud returned career-best analysis of seven for 30 in 19.2 overs.

Islamabad Leopards captain Zohaib Ahmed led from the front by capturing 5-66 with his seamers as Lahore Lions were sent packing for 149 but being put into bat at the National Stadium. By stumps, the Leopards had levelled the scores, having lost six wickets.

Peshawar Panthers piled up 303-7 to nullify Multan Tigers’ decision to bowl first at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan. Skipper Akbar Badshah (76 off 159 balls, eight boundaries) and Jamaluddin (an unbeaten 70 off 138, nine fours) added 145 after the Panthers were 158-5.

On day two of the match at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad, Karachi Dolphins earned a handy 72-run lead when they restricted Rawalpindi Rams to 253 all out in their first innings. Paceman Babar Rehman took 5-67.

Earlier, the Dolphins reached 325 after resuming at 286-6. Mohammad Waqas added only one runs to his Friday’s tally of 128.

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

At National Stadium, Karachi: LAHORE LIONS 149 in 41.3 overs (Umar Siddique 41, Saad Nasim 36; Zohaib Ahmed 5-66, Hamza Nadeem 3-56, Mudassar Ali 2-27); ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS 149-6 in 37.3 overs (Imad Wasim 40, Ali Sarfraz 28, Sarmad Bhatti 27 not out; Mohammad Saeed 4-41).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: NATIONAL BANK 249 in 72.1 overs (Akbar-ur-Rehman 72, Bilal Qureshi 62, Qaiser Abbas 41, Bilal Munir 25; Tabish Nawab 5-65, Sohail Khan 3-61); PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 37-3 in 15 overs (Shahzaib Hasan 19 not out; Mohammad Nawaz 2-13).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: UNITED BANK 254 in 83.2 overs (Ammar Hasan 90, Naved Sarwar 47, Ali Asad 43; Kashif Daud 7-30, Haseeb-ur-Rehman 2-20); ZTBL 12-0 in 5 overs.

At Southend Club Ground, Karachi: WAPDA 90 in 37 overs (Zeeshan Ali 30; Manzoor Khan 5-22, Imran Khalid 4-17); SNGPL 133 in 48.1 overs (Naeemuddin 32, Abubakar Khan 27; Khalid Usman 6-42, Mohammad Irfan 3-32).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: PESHAWAR PANTHERS 303-7 in 80.2 overs (Akbar Badshah 76, Aimal Khan 70 not out, Mehran Ibrahim 63; Majid Ali 3-56, Mohammad Asif 2-97) vs MULTAN TIGERS.

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad (day two): KARACHI DOLPHINS 325 in 91.2 overs (Mohammad Waqas 129, Yasir Mushtaq 62, Babar Hussain Agha 53; Haseeb Azam 4-67, Rizwan Akbar 4-113, Tayyab Abbas 2-77); RAWALPINDI RAMS 253 in 73 overs (Yasim Murtaza 58 not out, Aaqib Shah 39, Babar Rehman 5-67, Mir Hamza 3-58).

Published in Dawn December 14th , 2014