KARACHI: After upcoming paceman Zia-u-Haq had returned career-best figures, unbeaten centuries from Fawad Alam and Umar Waheed put National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in driving seat against Karachi Whites on day two of their third-round Pool ‘B’ match in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship at the National Stadium here on Tuesday.
Replying to the regional side’s first-innings total of 227, the NBP batting pair of Umar and Fawad put up a grand exhibition of batting to steer their team in front at a commanding 251-2, a position which was made much easier as the butter-fingered Karachi’ fielders gave right-handed Umar as many as five lives.
Fawad, on the other hand, was simply superb. The Pakistan left-hander took ample advantage of ideal batting conditions to register his 24th first-class century in 118 matches. By stumps he had not only outscored Umar but looked in ominous touch as he crunched 21 boundaries — one more than the entire Karachi team managed in their innings — to reach 127 from 181 deliveries.
The third-wicket partnership has thus far yielded 239 runs in 241 minutes. Umar’s chancy 183-ball 115 in a stay of 264 minutes included 16 fours after having taken guard in the very first over of the innings following the dismissal of Nasir Jamshed.
Nasir, who is due to leave for Dhaka to compete in the Bangladesh Premier League after this fixture, aimlessly went for a drive to the fifth ball he faced from seamer Adeel Malik only to edge it in slips cordon to Yasir Mushtaq.
Karachi Whites, elated by unexpected success early on, grabbed their second wicket shortly afterwards when Mohammad Nawaz was bowled by seamer Ghulam Mudassar for eight with the total on 12. But Fawad then joined Umar to ensure the double strikes were just a flash in the pan, although Karachi Whites could have easily got rid of Umar had they not been so overgenerous.
Earlier, Zia, a former Pakistan U-19 team-mate of Umar and Nawaz, captured two of the remaining three wickets after Karachi Whites resumed at 166-7 to finish with his best figures in first-class cricket. The 20-year-old left-armer from Vehari took 6-40 in 25 over to usurp his previous best return of 5-39 against Wapda in the President’s Trophy at Rawalpindi in November 2013.
Mohammad Hasan, the stand-in Karachi Whites captain, played a defiant innings of 73 (135 balls, nine fours) before was the last out.
On a action-packed day at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot no less than 21 wickets tumbled as Fata gained an unexpected lead of 61 runs against KRL. After being bowled out for 168, having began their overnight first innings at 106-5, Fata dismissed KRL for 107.
But KRL then bounced back to have Fata in dire straits at 51-6 in the second innings with in-form Mohammad Abbas claiming four wickets to extend his match haul to eight.
HBL were left wobbling at 36-3 after bowling out Rawalpindi for 183 at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. The regional out, who were 49-2 in Monday’s post-tea start, failed to prosper after Babar Naeem (50) and Naved Yasin (76) added 109 for the third wicket. Ammad Butt grabbed 5-34.
Wapda endured a frustrating day at the LCCA Ground in Lahore where Lahore Whites advanced from 104-1 to collect an impressive 324-5.
UBL, boosted by centuries from Umair Khan (100 off 236 balls, 11 boundaries) and Saeed bin Nasir (128 off 166, 18 fours), amassed 432-5 declared against Lahore Blues in the Pool ‘A’ game at the Gaddafi Stadium.
By close of play the regional side was in tatters at 36-7 with Pakistan seamer Ehsan Adil taking three wickets.
Islamabad made good use of 38.2 overs possible at the Diamond Club Ground to move from 123-3 to 270-6 against Port Qasim Authority. Abid Ali stole the show with a fine contribution of 136 (188 balls, 22 fours).
While the entire second day was washed in the Peshawar-SSGC clash at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar, Hyderabad put a gallant fight against SNGPL at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad. Replying to the departmental team’s 331, Hyderabad recovered from 121-6 to reach 254-9 with Shoaib Leghari (78) and Kashif Bhatti (58) putting on 111 for the seventh wicket.
Close of play scores on Tuesday (day two of four):
Third round:
Pool ‘A’:
At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LIMITED 331 in 78.4 overs (Taufiq Umar 67, Imran Butt 58, Imran Khalid 51, Adnan Akmal 36, Abu Bakar Khan 23; Hazrat Shah 3-82, Kashif Bhatti 2-64, Babar Khan 2-67); HYDERABAD 254-9 in 67 overs (Shoaib Leghari 78, Kashif Bhatti 58, Faisal Athar 55, Azeem Ghumman 21; Asad Ali 3-28, Hussain Talat 2-35, Bilawal Bhatti 2-48, Imran Khalid 2-107).
At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: UNITED BANK LIMITED 432-5 declared in 116 overs (Saeed bin Nasir 128, Umair Khan 100, Shan Masood 70, Sohaib Maqsood 64, Sharjeel Khan 39; Agha Salman 2-24, Mohammad Saeed 2-87); LAHORE BLUES 36-7 in 14 overs (Ehsan Adil 3-21, Rumman Raees Khan 2-6).
At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ISLAMABAD 270-6 in 73.2 overs (Abid Ali 136, Shahid Yousuf 70; Zohaib Shera 3-105) vs PORT QASIM AUTHORITY.
At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: PESHAWAR 217-6 in 65 overs (Akbar Badshah 53, Israrullah 48, Adil Amin 25, Zohaib Khan 25, Musadiq Ahmed 25; Tabish Khan 3-50, Sohail Khan 2-67) vs SUI SOUTHERN GAS COMPANY – No play on Tuesday due to rain.
Pool ‘B’:
At National Stadium, Karachi: KARACHI WHITES 227 in 105.5 overs (Mohammad Hasan 73, Saad Ali 60, Jaahid Ali 47, Mohammad Waqas 20; Zia-ul-Haq 6-40); NATIONAL BANK OF PAKISTAN 251-2 in 64 overs (Fawad Alam 127 not out, Umar Waheed 115 not out).
At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE WHITES 324-6 in 106 overs (Anas Mahmood 70, Usman Salahuddin 59, Mukhtar Ahmed 49, Sami Aslam 46, Mohammad Waheed 40, Asfand Mehran 24 not out; Mohammad Irfan 3-59, Junaid Khan 2-82) vs WAPDA.
At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: FEDERALLY ADMINISTERED TRIBAL AREAS 168 in 78 overs (Haroon Sadaqat 37, Fawad Khan 26, Rehan Afridi 21; Nauman Ali 4-27, Mohammad Abbas 4-62, Majid Ali 2-24) and 51-6 in 11 overs (Fawad Khan 20; Mohammad Abbas 4-29, Majid Ali 2-19); KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES 107 in 32.5 overs (Saeed Anwar Jr 34, Luqman Butt 23; Mohammad Zeeshan 5-58, Razaullah Wazir 3-18).
At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: RAWALPINDI 183 in 41.4 overs (Naved Yasin 76, Babar Naeem 50; Ammad Butt 5-34, Umar Gul 2-59); HABIB BANK LIMITED 36-3 in 12 overs (Imran Farhat 15 not out).
Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2015
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