KARACHI: Zeeshan Haider struck an undefeated century to lift Zone-I out of trouble against Zone-V at the start of their second-round PCB Regional Inter-district (Karachi region) Under-19 Cricket Championships here on Saturday.

Batting first at the Landhi Gymkhana Ground, Zone-I were all out for a fighting first-innings tally of 274 in 69.4 overs thanked to Zeeshan’s 151. He adorned his wonderful knock with 16 boundaries and a brace of sixes.

Mohammad Zafar provided Zeeshan solid support with 56 (nine fours and one six), while Zone-V’s main wicket-taker was Hasan bin Shahab with figures of four for 103.

Zone-V ended day one of the two-day game at 66-1.

Half centuries from S.M. Tahami and Mohammad Hassaan Khan steered Zone-VI, making first appearance in this year’s event, to 306 all out in 63 overs versus Zone-III at the NBP Sports Complex.

Tahami emerged as the top scorer with 81 that included 14 boundaries, while Hassaan, an ‘A’ Level student, hit nine fours and one six in scoring 67. Skipper Fahaddis Bukhari made 40 with seven fours.

Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed bowled to snare four wickets for 66 runs. All-rounder Rabish Ahmed took 3-62 before striking 58 (five boundaries) as Zone-III reached stumps at 110 without losing a wicket in 25 overs of their reply.

Rabish’s opening partner Osama Ali was batting with exactly 50 (four fours).

Zone-II were in driving seat after restricting Zone-VII to 220 all out in 65.3 overs at the UBL Sports Complex despite a defiant 79 (seven boundaries) from Maaz Ashar.

Mohammad Asad then slammed an undefeated 53 (six fours) with excellent support from Kashif Iqbal, who contributed 41 not out, as Zone-II reached 115-1 in 24 overs by close of play.

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

At Landhi Gymkhana Ground, Karachi: ZONE-I 274 in 69.4 overs (Zeeshan Haider 151 not out, Mohammad Zafar 56; Hasan bin Shahab 4-103, Ali Raja 2-27, Saif Ali 2-43); ZONE-V 66-1 in 18 overs (Khurram Taj 23 not out, Arsal Bashir 17 not out).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: ZONE-VII 220 in 65.3 overs (Maaz Ashar 79, Azizuddin 29, Harman Waris 27, Rafiuddin 25; Nadir Shah 3-57); ZONE-II 115-1 in 24 overs (Mohammad Asad 53 not out, Kashif Iqbal 41 not out).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: ZONE-VI 306 in 63 overs (S.M. Tahami 81,

Mohammad Hassaan Khan 67, Fahaddis Bukhari 40; Abrar Ahmed 4-66, Rabish Ahmed 3-62); ZONE-III 110-0 in 25 overs (Rabish Ahmed 58 not out, Osama Ali 50 not out).

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2015

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