KARACHI: Karachi Whites were left with a tricky chase after holders SNGPL were dismissed for a second-innings tally of 235 in the eventful Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship fixture at the UBL Sports Complex here on Sunday.

Requiring 246 at the start of the fourth innings of the Pool ‘B’ match on day two itself Karachi Whites reached stumps at 35-1, having lost the crucial scalp of captain Shahzaib Hasan (17) to discarded seamer Bilawal Bhatti.

The onus of getting the remaining 211 runs now chiefly lies with talented left-hander Saad Ali, who has just returned home after a productive tour of Zimbabwe with the Pakistan ‘A’ side, on a pitch that needs batsmen to be judicious in their shot selection.

This was superbly exemplified by Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Rizwan on Sunday as the Pakistan players shared a game-defining partnership of 108 after three quick strikes from left-arm speedster Ghulam Mudassar had the champions in strife at 42-4.

While Iftikhar took the role of being a sheet-anchor, Rizwan attacked with gusto during their 185-minute alliance in the middle on either side of the lunch interval. On the way, Rizwan was left off in the 60s by Shahzaib at first slip off Tabish Khan when the diminutive right-hander went for a slash over the cordon.

Iftikhar, the top-scorer on Saturday with 48, was dismissed by Tabish for a solid 42. The Test right-hander hit three fours and one six during his 128-ball innings in a stay of 205 minutes.

The persevering Babar Rehman was rewarded for a sustained spell from the Pavilion End with three wickets. Rizwan was his final victim — caught behind while trying an ambitious cut to be eighth out at 192 — for a 178-ball 95 that included 11 boundaries.

All three seamers finished with three wickets apiece with Tabish grabbing match haul of eight for 111 and Mudassar seven for 114.

Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik starred with a belligerent innings in an unfinished stand of 114 with Asif Zakir as SSGC built a 98-run lead over Karachi Blues at the National Stadium.

Joining Asif at 190-4, Malik outscored his partner by a distance as the right-hander raced to 84 from only 65 deliveries with the aid of 11 fours and three sixes. Asif also reached 84 but faced 156 balls to get there with 12 boundaries.

Bowlers held sway at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad where Lahore Blues conceded a first-innings lead of 51 to HBL but hit back strongly to have the bankers tottering to 90-9 in the second innings.

Pakistan seamer Umar Gul, leading HBL in this fixture, captured 5-39 in 15.4 overs with all-rounder Fahim Ashraf taking 3-40.

Lahore Whites in tatters at 127-5 after Pool ‘B’ leaders KRL posted 352 in their first innings at the LCCA Ground in Lahore. Abdul Rehman Muzammil excelled for KRL with 96.

PIA staged a grand comeback by totalling 276 after resuming at 55-4 in response to Rawalpindi’s 198 at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi. The recovery was engineered by Shaharyar Ghani (97 off 214 balls, 12 fours), skipper Anwar Ali (75 off 115, 12 fours and one six) and Obaidullah (51).

Discarded Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Talha picked up five for 83 in 19.2 overs before Rawalpindi collected 32-0 in the second innings.

Shan Masood struck 93 (182 balls, 11 boundaries) and Akbar-ur-Rehman 80 (91 balls, 12 fours) to help UBL post 270-6 after Islamabad folded up for 275 at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad.

Pool ‘A’ leaders Wapda collapsed for 180 to enable Peshawar enjoy a lead of 93 on the first innings at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. But the regional side then stuttered to 28-4 in the second innings.

In the day-night game at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, NBP rode on a career-best 200 (202 balls, 27 fours and one six) from ex-Pakistan Under-19 opener Ahsan Ali and former Test left-hander Qaiser Abbas’ unbeaten 151 (179 balls, 15 fours and one six) to amass 527-8 declared in reply to Fata’s 192.

Starting their second innings with a huge deficit of 335, Fata were 64-2.

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

Fourth round:

Pool ‘A’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: KARACHI BLUES 206 in 84.2 overs (Owais Ahmed Rehmani 68, Khalid Latif 32, Mohammad Sami 29, Fazal Subhan 27; Zia-ul-Haq 4-33, Shoaib Malik 2-31, Ahmed Iqbal 2-32, Aamir Yamin 2-48); SSGC 304-5 in 83 overs (Asif Zakir 84 not out, Shoaib Malik 84 not out, Umar Amin 40, Zain Abbas 27, Fawad Alam 22; Abdul Ameer 2-61).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: HBL 170 in 63 overs (Fakhar Zaman 33, Umar Gul 33, Jamal Anwar 27 not out; Shahid Nawaz 3-38, Mohammad Aftab 3-43, Bilawal Iqbal 3-48) and 90-9 in 39 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 24; Shahid Nawaz 4-27, Agha Salman 2-6, Mohammad Aftab 2-27); LAHORE BLUES 119 in 47.4 overs (Saad Nasim 22; Umar Gul 5-39, Fahim Ashraf 3-40).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ISLAMABAD 275 in 88 overs (Shahid Yousuf 105, Mohammad Naqqash 42, Sarmad Bhatti 33, Raheel Majeed 23, Mohammad Naeem 21; Mir Hamza 5-55, Hammad Azam 2-28, Sameen Gul 2-35); UBL 270-6 in 69.3 overs (Shan Masood 93, Akbar-ur-Rehman 80, Sohaib Maqsood 34; Zohaib Ahmed 2-65, Shehzad Azam Rana 2-67).

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: PESHAWAR 273 in 93 overs (Israrullah 59, Akbar Badshah 56, Sahibzada Farhan 38, Ashfaq Ahmed 35, Sajid Khan 30 not out; Waqas Maqsood 4-42, Khalid Usman 3-49) and 28-4 in 12.2 overs (Waqas Maqsood 2-7, Mohammad Asif 2-18); WAPDA 180 in 55.4 overs (Kamran Akmal 74, Ayaz Tasawwar 39, Mohammad Saad 20; Sajid Khan 5-50, Taj Wali 4-36).

Pool ‘B’:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: SNGPL 128 in 41.5 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 48; Tabish Khan 5-23, Ghulam Mudassar 4-59) and 29-1 in 9 overs and 235 in 79.1 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 95, Iftikhar Ahmed 42, Bilawal Bhatti 25, Imran Butt 22; Babar Rehman 3-51, Ghulam Mudassar 3-55, Tabish Khan 3-88); KARACHI WHITES 118 in 23.2 overs (Shahzaib Hasan 61, Behram Khan 25; Azizullah 5-42, Bilawal Bhatti 3-19) and 35-1 in 9 overs.

At: LCCA Ground, Lahore: KRL 352 in 132 overs (Abdul Rehman Muzammil 96, Sardar Hasan 93, Zulfiqar Jan 40, Shoaib Ahmed 38, Yasir Ali 24; Umaid Asif 3-73, Saif-ur-Rehman 2-60, Adnan Rasool 2-60, Qaiser Ashraf 2-77); LAHORE WHITES 127-5 in 38 overs (Gohar Hafeez 44, Rizwan Hussain 36; Nayyar Abbas 3-32).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (day-night fixture, dinner break): FATA 192 in 53.5 overs (Mohammad Naeem 67, Khushdil Shah 44; Mohammad Irfan 3-51, Altaf Ahmed 3-61, Atif Jabbar 2-55) and 64-2 in 16 overs (Fawad Khan 35, Mohammad Naeem 24 not out); NBP 527-8 declared in 104 overs (Ahsan Ali 200 not out, Qaiser Abbas 151 not out, Mohammad Irfan 52, Rameez Raja 46, Naved Yasin 26; Ahmed Asfandyar 2-84, Saad Altaf 2-98).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: RAWALPINDI 198 in 58 overs (Taimur Khan 90, Sarmad Hameed 29, Yasir Hameed 28; Salman Saeed 3-43, Aizaz Cheema 3-55, Anwar Ali 3-56) and 32-0 in 13 overs (Sarmad Hameed 24 not out); PIA 276 in 90.2 overs (Shaharyar Ghani 97, Anwar Ali 75, Obaidullah 51; Mohammad Talha 5-83, Sohail Tanvir 2-13, Ataullah 2-59).

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2016