KARACHI: Karachi put themselves in a solid position by dismissing Abbottabad for a modest 169 in the first innings of their Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-II semi-final clash here at the National Stadium on Saturday.

But day one of the other semi-final provided sensational stuff at the Multan Cricket Stadium where as many as 19 wickets stumbled in the game between hosts Multan and Hyderabad.

After being sent into by Rameez Raja, Abbottabad lost two early wickets before opener Imran Shah, who made a painstaking 47 off 158 balls with three fours in 230 minutes, and Kamran Ghulam (37 off 94 balls, five fours) added 70.

Imran and Farhan Hussain (32 off 40, four boundaries) further consolidated the innings by putting on 54 before the rot set in as Abbottabad nosedived from 141-3 to 169 all out, losing seven wickets in the space of just 28 runs.

Slow left-armer Mohammad Asghar snared four wickets for 64 runs in 24 overs before Karachi reached 59-1 in reply by close of play.

Hyderabad, asked to bat by Multan captain Zulfiqar Babar, made partial recovery from 41-6 to 117 all out with Shoaib Leghari hitting 38 (76 balls, four fours) and Saad Khan 27.

Pace-bowling all-rounder Aamir Yamin and spinner Zulfiqar shared six wickets between.

But Multan then found the going equalling hazardous, chiefly against the pace of Nauman Akbar, in response when they reached stumps at a precarious 111-9.

The solitary exception being left-handed opener Zain Abbas who is still fighting it out with an undefeated 50 with his 115-ball effort in 183 minutes containing three fours.

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

Semi-finals:

At National Stadium, Karachi: ABBOTTABAD 169 in 64.3 overs (Imran Shah 47, Kamran Ghulam 37, Farhan Hussain 32; Mohammad Asghar 4-64, Mohammad Umar 2-27, Ashiq Ali 2-28); KARACHI BLUES 59-1 in 23 overs (Rameez Raja 29 not out, Saud Shakeel 19 not out).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: HYDERABAD 117 in 48.1 overs (Shoaib Leghari 38, Saad Khan 27, Babar Khan 19; Aamir Yamin 3-10, Ahsan Baig 3-22, Zulfiqar Babar 2-49); MULTAN 111-9 in 35 overs (Zain Abbas 50 not out, Zulfiqar Babar 18, Zia-ul-Haq 18; Nauman Akbar 6-52, Babar Khan 2-36).

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2018