KARACHI: Upcoming wicket-keeper/batsman Moham­mad Afzal underlined his credentials with a brilliant century to rescue Zone-VI from collapse against Zone-III on day two of the three-day match in the PCB Regional Inter-district Senior (Karachi Region) Cricket Tournament here on Saturday.

The youngster struck a defiant 122 while dominating the sixth-wicket partnership of 160 with Nadeem Javed to enable Zone-VI post 283-8 in the stipulated 83 overs of the first innings in reply to Zone-III’s 259 at the TMC Ground. Afzal’s 157-ball innings included 12 boundaries and two sixes, while Nadeem struck a painstaking 80 from 204 deliveries with the aid of six fours and a six.

Spinner Amjad Manzoor claimed three wickets for 96 runs while discarded Pakistan fast bowler grabbed two for 21.

By close of play in the three-day game, Zone-III collected 30-1 in their second innings.

Zone-VII were battling for survival after Zone-II earned a lead of 49 by reaching 211 in their first innings at the After electing to bat first at the Lawai Cricket Ground in Naya Nazimabad.

In their second Zone-VII were struggling at 138-5 with Faraz Patel batting on a fighting 51 (four fours and two sixes). The left-arm spin duo of Junaid Naeem and Wajid Saleem have so far captured two wickets apiece to follow their four-for hauls on Friday.

For Zone-II, Fahaddis Bukhari made 53 (five fours) and Naved Khan 48 (three fours and one six).

Leg-spinner Mansoor Ahmed bagged 5-72 and off-spinner Raza-ul-Hasan 5-73.

Zone-I were also in command after dismissing Zone-V for 191 to enjoy a handy first-innings advantage of 84 runs at the Landhi Gymkhana Ground.

Shoaib Shakeel was Zone-V’s top scorer with 62 off 151 balls with nine boundaries, while Wasim Ahmed contributed 47 (seven fours).

The bowling honours for Zone-I were evenly shared by slow left-armers Mirza Ahsan Jameel (5-43) and Ahmed Iqbal (5-59).

Zone-I then extended their lead to159 when they went to stumps 75-2 in the second innings.

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

Second round:

At Landhi Gymkhana Ground, Karachi: Zone-I 275-8 in 83 overs (Zakir Ali 63, Mirza Ahsan Jameel 55, Basit Ali 52 not out, Tanvir Ali 38; Maroof Aziz 4-57) and 75-2 in 25 overs (Behram Khan 33 not out, Zakir Ali 18 not out; Mohammad Salman 2-27); Zone-V 191 in 67.5 overs (Shoaib Shakeel 62, Wasim Ahmed 47, Arsalan Bashir 31; Mirza Ahsan Jameel 5-43, Ahmed Iqbal 5-59).

At Lawai Cricket Ground (Naya Nazimabad), Karachi: Zone-VII 162 in 60 overs (Amit Ravi 61 not out, Owais Ahmed Rehmani 21; Junaid Naeem 4-57, Wajid Saleem 4-58) and 138-5 in 51 overs (Faraz Patel 51 not out, Amit Ravi 34, Hamza Ghanchi 28; Junaid Naeem 2-27,Wajid Saleem 2-54); Zone-II 211 in 73.1 overs (Fahaddis Bukhari 53, Naved Khan 48, Ubaid-ur-Rehman 28l Mansoor Ahmed 5-72, Raza-ul-Hasan 5-73).

At TMC Ground, Karachi: Zone-III 259 in 82.5 overs (Shahzar Hasan 82, Mohammad Waqas 45, Zeeshan Jameel 41, Aaqib Rizvi 26; Danish Aziz 3-42, Salman Khan 3-62) and 30-1 in 20 overs (Shahzad Khan 20 not out) ; Zone-VI 283-8 in 83 overs (Mohammad Afzal 122, Nadeem Javed 80; Amjad Manzoor 3-96, Mohammad Sami 2-21, Zeeshan Jameel 2-26).

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2016