KARACHI: United Bank Limited (UBL) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) cleared the first hurdle by taking first-innings lead in their respective matches of the Super Eight round in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship here on Tuesday.

In other games, Lahore Blues rode on Raza Ali Dar’s second career-best innings to put Wapda on back foot and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) staged a grand comeback against Karachi Whites to put themselves in control.

UBL were in driving seat against National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) despite losing top three batsmen in their second innings for 60 runs on a lively UBL Sports Complex pitch on which no less than 16 wickets tumbled on the second day of the four-day fixture.

UBL, who were 228-7 overnight, lost their last three wickets to be all out for 268 in their first innings with upcoming slow-left-armer Mohammad Asghar getting rid of No 11 Sadaif Mehdi, stumped by Kamran Akmal, to end up with 5-72 in 27.5 overs.

Lanky fast bowler Ahmed Jamal grabbed the other two wickets to finish with 3-52 in 26 overs while Kamran excelled behind the stumps with six dismissals, including five catches.

NBP soon ran into trouble as they lost three wickets before lunch and three more after the break to find themselves tottering at 67-6 with all their big guns silenced. Fawad Alam (5) paid the price of playing across the line to a sharp incoming delivery into the left-hander from Pakistan discard Ehsan Adil, who then uprooted Kamran’s middle stump with a beauty for 12.

Left-hander Qaiser Abbas, who played a solitary Test against England in 2000, hardly moved his feet when Hammad Azam, the all-rounder currently out of the national side, knocked back his off stump.

All-rounder Fahim Ashraf (44 off 79 balls, nine boundaries) then joined Akbar-ur-Rehman (33 off 45, eight fours) to forge a partnership of 54 before the latter threw away his wicket when he attempted to heave spinner Yasim Murtaza but only succeeded in holing out to Hammad at short mid-wicket.

The left-handed Fahim looked in fine touch and was the only batsman who was willing to stick it out while UBL went for the kill. He was finally ninth man to be dismissed when Saeed bin Nasir in the slips held a sharp catch off a slash to enable Ehsan take deserved fourth wicket as NBP were all out for 148.

Ehsan looked threatening whenever he came on and finished with 4-43 in 14 overs while Hammad, who had earlier scored an invaluable 31, took 4-37 from 14 overs.

Starting their second innings with a substantial lead of 120, UBL lost Shan Masood for seven in a replica of Test left-hander’s dismissal in the first innings when he edged Ataullah to Kamran.

Umar Siddique was trapped LBW by Fahim for a seven-ball duck before Ahmed Jamal had Umair Khan (30) caught to leave UBL captain Younis Khan batting on a 42-ball 19 when play on an absorbing day came to an end.

Naeemuddin’s 16th first-class century guided SNGPL to 337-7 in reply to 208 made by Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in their first innings at the National Stadium. The left-handed Naeemuddin, who was forced to retire hurt in early part of his stay, scored an unbeaten 102 from 161 balls (14 boundaries) to help his side to be in front by 129 runs at stumps on day two.

KRL needed early wickets upfront and duly got three of them by the time SNGPL had taken their overnight score from 38-1 to 97-4. Among those gone were Pakistan stars Mohammad Hafeez (17) and captain Azhar Ali (23).

The much-maligned Umar Akmal scored a second successive half-century at the first-class level. Following a 54 against Lahore Blues last month before leaving for T20 duty with Pakistan and Chittagong Vikings in the Bangladesh Premier League, Umar produced a knock of substance to slam 12 boundaries and a six in a 82-ball 66 before providing seamer Mohammad Abbas with his 50th wicket of the current championship when he was given correctly LBW by ex-international umpire Zameer Haider.

Like the first verdict, Zameer also got his second adjudication spot on when Imran Khalid (44 off 100 balls, six fours) was dismissed by Abbas to end a seventh-wicket stand of 137 with the well-set Naeemuddin.

Bilawal Bhatti (33 off 49, four fours and one six) joined Naeemuddin in another partnership which is worth exactly 50 thus far.

Paceman Adnan Ghaus picked up five of the six wickets that Karachi Whites lost on Tuesday to return career-best figures of 6-72 in 24 overs as SSGC hit back strongly at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad.

Resuming well-placed at 242-4, Karachi Whites suffered a capitulation not dissimilar to they experienced against Fata in their last league-round game in Karachi last week as six wickets went down for the mere addition of 27 runs.

Poor Saud Shakeel was left stranded high and dry on 67 (189 balls, eight fours) while the tail failed to wag as Adeel Malik, Ghulam Mudassar, Sohaib Khan, Abdullah Muqaddam all departed without opening their account.

SSGC lost the top four wickets for 75 runs before Asif Zakir (66 off 128 balls, 11 fours) and the left-handed Awais Zia (85 off 121, 11 fours and one six) came together in a splendid unbroken stand of 139 to steer their side to 214-4.

On a lifeless pitch at the NBP Sports Complex, Lahore Blues amassed 511 in their first innings against Wapda after resuming at 302-4. Raza became the third batsman in the innings to reach three figures by making 133 (303 balls, 14 fours and one six) after Agha Salman added just two runs to his overnight score of 113.

Tailender Bilawal Iqbal hit 53 (99 balls, five fours and two sixes) while assisting Raza add 105 for the seventh wicket.

Seamer Naseer Akram took 4-103 in 34 overs, while Test spinner Zulfiqar Babar toiled through 54 overs to claim 2-140.

Wapda, in reply, lost opener Arsalan Bajwa for a duck before getting to 17-1 at close of play.

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

Group-I:

At National Stadium, Karachi: KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES 208 in 60 overs (Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 77, Luqman Butt 60, Rahat Ali 26; Imran Khalid 4-41, Asad Ali 3-39, Bilawal Bhatti 2-42); SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LIMITED 337-7 in 101 overs (Naeemuddin 102 not out, Umar Akmal 66, Imran Khalid 44, Bilawal Bhatti 33 not out, Azhar Ali 23; Mohammad Abbas 2-79, Sadaf Hussain 2-79, Rahat Ali 2-79).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: LAHORE BLUES 511 in 159.3 overs (Raza Ali Dar 133, Agha Salman 115, Haris Nazar 103, Bilawal Iqbal 53, Farhan Khan 43; Naseer Akram 4-103, Haziq Habibullah 2-115, Zulfiqar Babar 2-140); WATER AND POWER DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 17-1 in 14 overs.

Group-II:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: UNITED BANK LIMITED 268 in 96.5 overs (Younis Khan 85, Umar Siddique 60, Hammad Azam 31; Mohammad Asghar 5-72, Ahmed Jamal 3-52) and 60-3 in 21 overs (Umair Khan 30, Younis Khan 19 not out); NATIONAL BANK OF PAKISTAN 148 in 47 overs (Fahim Ashraf 44, Akbar-ur-Rehman 33, Qaiser Abbas 25; Hammad Azam 4-37, Ehsan Adil 4-43).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: KARACHI WHITES 269 in 99 overs (Jaahid Ali 74, Saud Shakeel 67 not out, Saad Ali 48, Faisal Iqbal 20; Adnan Ghaus 6-72, Rajesh Ramesh 4-65); SUI SOUTHERN GAS COMPANY 214-4 in Awais Zia 85 not out, Asif Zakir 66 not out, Umar Amin 30; Adeel Malik 2-44).

Published in Dawn, December 16th, 2015