KARACHI: Karachi Whites’ ambitions of qualifying for the Super Eight stage of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship received a boost when they took a 37-run lead against Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

Replying to the hosts’ first-innings tally of 172, Karachi Whites collected 209 after resuming the second day of the fifth-round Pool ‘B’ fixture at the Pindi Cricket Stadium at 58-1.

Skipper Faisal Iqbal struck a gutsy 54 from 72 balls with the aid of nine boundaries after getting a reprieve before he had opened his account. Seamer Saad Altaf claimed four wickets.

Rawalpindi then collected 117-4 in the second innings to hold a lead of 80 runs at the close of play.

Lahore Whites made a brilliant comeback from the brink to post 267-3 in response to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata)’s tally of 314 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

They were 30-3 after starting the day at 20-2 when Usman Salahuddin joined Sami Aslam in an unfinished partnership of 237 with both completing centuries.

The left-handed Sami, who until last year led Pakistan Under-19, made 121 from 260 balls with 16 boundaries, while Usman led from the front by striking 10 fours and one six to score 111 from 221 deliveries.

Peshawar, inspired by a fourth-wicket stand of 120 between Zohaib Khan (54 not out) and Akbar Badshah (66), collected 172-4 in reply to Lahore Blues’ first-innings score of 267 at the LCCA Ground in Lahore.

Hyderabad held ascendency against Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital. After extending their Monday’s score from 262-8 to 279 all out, they bowled out the home side for 211 to gain a handy lead of 68 runs.

Paceman Babar Khan was the star performer for the visitors with six wickets for 59 runs.

By close of play, Hyderabad led by 94 runs after reaching 28-2 in the second innings.

Sui Nothern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) made a remarkable recovery to earn an unexpected lead of 188 against Port Qasim Authority (PQA) at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

Replying to PQA’s inadequate tally of 119, SNGPL had struggled to 95-5 at stumps on Monday. But on day two, Pakistan one-day team skipper Azhar Ali engineered a tremendous comeback with a knock of 142 as SNGPL eventually posted 307.

Azhar’s 271-ball innings contained 15 boundaries in a stay of 369 minutes. Night-watchman Azizullah also played a big part in SNGPL’s grand recovery by making 32 while putting on 115 for the sixth wicket with Azhar.

Left-arm speedster Zohab Shera added two more wickets to his overnight haul of four to finish with excellent return of six for 84 in 30 overs. Discarded Pakistan paceman Mohammad Talha had unflattering figures of two for 101.

To complete a wonderful day for themselves, SNGPL then reduced PQA to 25-4 in the second innings to raise hopes of an early end to the Pool ‘A’ game on Wednesday.

Pool ‘A’ leaders United Bank Limited (UBL) were in complete command against Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) at the Marghazar Cricket Ground in Islamabad.

After captain Younis Khan had declared UBL’s first innings at 514-8 with all-rounder Hammad Azam contributing an undefeated 72, SSGC lost four wickets while mustering 87 runs.

Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) have a fight on their hands after they were bundled out for a paltry 99 to enable Habib Bank Limited (HBL) enjoy a substantial lead of 179 at the National Ground in Islamabad.

In-form paceman Mohammad Abbas excelled to take six wickets for 84 runs as HBL added 45 runs to their overnight position of 233-5. Left-armer Sadaf Hussain, who has a chequered career because of injuries, took 4-55.

But Umar Gul, the experienced Pakistan seamer, continued his bid to revived his international career with four wickets for 31 runs with discarded Test spinner Abdur Rehman claiming three for 13.

And although, HBL stumbled to 20-3 in the second innings, their overall lead of 199 has given them in a state of peace.

Former Pakistan Under-19 paceman Azhar Attari picked up six wickets for 57 runs as Wapda put themselves on top against Pool ‘B’ leaders National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.

After losing the last two wickets early in the morning to be all out for 315, Wapda dismissed NBP for 201 to lead by 114 runs on the first innings.

Ex-Test left-hander Qaiser Abbas finished unbeaten on a fighting 93.

Close of play scores on Tuesday (day two of four):

Fifth round:

Pool ‘A’:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 119 in 42.3 overs (Shahzaib Hasan 30, Mohammad Talha 23; Ahmed Safi 2-21, Bilawal Bhatti 3-23, Azizullah 3-26) and 25-4 in 9 overs (Samiullah Khan Niazi 2-10, Azizullah 2-13); SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LIMITED 307 in 94.2 overs (Azhar Ali 142, Azizullah 32, Bilawal Bhatti 25; Zohaib Shera 6-84, Mohammad Talha 2-101).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE BLUES 267 in 86.4 overs (Saad Nasim 67, Agha Salman 54, Tayyab Tahir 41, Fahad-ul-Haq 26; Umair Khan 4-60, Taj Wali 4-90, Zohaib Khan 2-41); PESHAWAR 172-4 in 63 overs (Akbar Badshah 66, Zohaib Khan 54 not out, Israrullah 22).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: HYDERABAD 279 in 79.5 overs (Shoaib Leghari 48, Haris Khan 45, Lal Kumar 35, Rizwan Ahmed 33, Hazrat Shah 26 not out; Shehzad Azam Rana 3-47, Hasan Ali 3-81, Junaid Nadir 2-59, Zohaib Ahmed 2-60) and 28-2 in 8.4 overs; ISLAMABAD 211 in 54.1 overs (Zohaib Ahmed 68, Sarmad Bhatti 40, Junaid Nadir 24, Abid Ali 23, Shahid Yousuf 21; Babar Khan 6-59, Sajjad Hussain 2-55).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: UNITED BANK LIMITED 514-8 declared in 123 overs (Shan Masood 97, Umair Khan 87, Hammad Azam 72 not out, Sharjeel Khan 72, Saeed bin Nasir 53, Younis Khan 42, Yasim Murtaza 35; Adnan Ghaus 3-125, Zafar Gohar 2-79, Tabish Khan 2-99); SUI SOUTHERN GAS COMPANY 87-4 in 31.2 overs (Asif Zakir 24 not out, Awais Zia 19 not out; Mir Hamza 2-20, Ehsan Adil 2-21).

Pool ‘B’:

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: FEDERALLY ADMINISTERED TRIBAL AREAS 314 in 65.2 overs (Fawad Khan 108, Rehan Afridi 52, Mohammad Irfan 40, Nisar Ahmed 27, Haroon Sadaqat 22, Khushdil Shah 20; Saif-ur-Rehman 5-76, Asif Raza 2-82); LAHORE WHITES 267-3 in 86 overs (Sami Aslam 121 not out, Usman Salahuddin 111 not out).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: WAPDA 315 in 83.5 overs (Aamir Sajjad 100, Bismillah Khan 84, Mohammad Saad 33, Zulfiqar Babar 29; Zia-ul-Haq 4-82, Ataullah 3-61, Akbar-ur-Rehman 2-5) and 0-0 in 0.2 over; NATIONAL BANK OF PAKISTAN 201 in 63 overs (Qaiser Abbas 93 not out, Mohammad Nawaz 30; Azhar Attari 6-57, Adnan Raees 2-2, Waqas Maqsood 2-49).

At National Ground, Islamabad: HABIB BANK LIMITED 278 in 94.4 overs (Imran Farhat 95, Aftab Khan 74, Hasan Raza 33, Asad Shafiq 24; Mohammad Abbas 6-84, Sadaf Hussain 4-55) and 20-3 in 15 overs (Mohammad Abbas 2-10); KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES 99 in 29.2 overs (Umar Gul 4-31, Abdur Rehman 3-13, Ammad Butt 2-22) .

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: RAWALPINDI 172 in 50.2 overs (Aaqib Shah 54; Adeel Malik 4-54, Babar Rehman 3-43, Ghulam Mudassar 3-61) and 117-4 in 30 overs (Usman Saeed 41 not out, Babar Naeem 29; Adeel Malik 3-43); KARACHI WHITES 209 in 62.3 overs (Faisal Iqbal 54, Haris Ali Khan 36, Saad Ali 27, Jaahid Ali 24, Mohammad Hasan 20; Saad Altaf 4-84, Naseer Ahmed 3=62, Abid Hasan 2-50).

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2015