KARACHI: Faisalabad face a tense final day after Lahore Blues staged a late comeback on Monday to leave the opening triangular stage fixture of the PCB Inter-region Under-19 three-day tournament evenly poised in Mirpur.

Faisalabad were struggling at 27-2 in their second innings on day two of the three-day match at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Azad Jammu Kashmir after taking a slender 20-run lead on the first.

Replying to Faisalabad’s 296, Lahore Blues were all out for 276 in their first innings after resuming at the overnight score of 37 without loss, having lost three wickets for five runs upon start of play on Monday.

Lahore Blues’ middle-order served them superbly as the left-handed partnership of skipper Attyab Ahmed (42 off 133 balls, six boundaries) and Fahad Munir (48 off 46, nine fours) put on 101 for the fourth wicket in 125 minutes before both fell to off-spinner Abdullah Zubair.

Syed Taqi Bilgrami (57 off 72, six fours and one six) and Saad Ali Refai (47 off 70, three boundaries) then stabilized the faltering Lahore innings by sharing another productive stand as they added exactly 100 for the sixth wicket.

But once they got out Faisalabad clawed back into the match by taking the last four wickets for the addition of just 18 runs.

Abdullah bagged four wickets for 72 runs in 20.5 overs with fellow off-spinner Ahmed Butt taking 3-66 in 21 overs and leg-spinner Suleman Shafqat 2-51 in 12 overs.

When Faisalabad batted, slow left-armer and Lahore skipper Mohammad Bilal Khan restored parity by taking both wickets to fall so far.

On Sunday’s first day of action, opener Zohaib Amanat made 57 (109 balls, eight fours and one six) to emerge as the top scorer for Faisalabad.

At one stage after Lahore Blues opted to bowl first, Faisalabad were in trouble at 176-6 before solid contributions from wicket-keeper Ali Haider (41 off 81, two fours) and Mashal Khan (48 off 87, four boundaries) revived them by putting on 55 invaluable runs.

Left-arm spinner Ibtisam-ul-Haq, son of ex-Pakistan captain and current chairman of the national selection committee Inzamam-ul-Haq, snared three wickets for 65 runs from 16 overs.

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

Triangular stage, round one:

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur (AJK): FAISALABAD 296 in 83 overs (Zohaib Amanat 57, Mashal Khan 48, Ali Haider 41, Abdullah Zubair 35, Danish Rashid 25, Mohammad Irfan Khan 22; Ibtisam-ul-Haq 3-65, Asad Khan 2-22, Mohammad Bilal Khan 2-67, Sheroz Afzal 2-91) and 27-2 in 24 overs (Mohammad Bilal Khan 2-12); LAHORE BLUES 276 in 82.5 overs (Syed Taqi Bilgrami 57, Attyab Ahmed 52, Fahad Munir 48, Saad Ali Refai 47, Uzair Nasir 20; Abdullah Zubair 4-72, Ahmed Butt 3-66, Suleman Shafqat 2-51).

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2018