KARACHI: Opener Khurram Manzoor continued his excellent form in the RBS Quad-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship with another century to put PIA in driving seat of their Group ‘A’ match against Karachi Whites at the National Stadium here on Thursday.

The talented 23-year-old Test right-hander scored a chanceless 133 – his third hundred in four matches this season in the country’s premier first-class tournament – as PIA reached a commanding 375-4 to enjoy a comfortable lead of 183 runs having bowled out Karachi Whites for 192 in the first innings on Wednesday.

PIA resumed at 60-0 and lost their first wicket after lunch when Agha Sabir lapsed in concentration and lobbed a simple catch to short-leg off spinner Misbah Khan after compiling 98 (153 balls, 16 fours and one six) in the opening partnership of 181 with Khurram.

But Khurram, preparing for next month’s Test series in New Zealand, was not in going to be denied a well-deserved 12th ton in 58 first-class games. He struck 20 sweetly-timed boundaries and negotiated 274 deliveries while occupying the crease for six hours and 23 minutes to take his aggregate to 562 runs – the highest by any batsman in the ongoing competition so far.

Shoaib Khan slammed 12 boundaries in a rapid 68 off 77 balls, helping Khurram add 117 for the third wicket before departed at the same total (324) shortly after the second new ball arrived.

KRL gained a lead of 16 runs on the first innings after dismissing ZTBL for 243 at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Karachi Blues conceded a substantial 119-run first-innings lead after being bowled out by Rawalpindi for 152 in the Group ‘B’ fixture at the National Ground in Islamabad.

But the Blues, led by their opening bowler Tanvir Ahmed, hit back quickly to dismiss Rawalpindi for 161 in the second innings. Tanvir grabbed his third 10-wicket match haul on the trot as he extended his tally to 39 in the season by claiming 7-70 in an unchanged spell of 19.5 overs to finish with match figures of 10-170.

Sialkot’s left-arm paceman Naved Arif claimed a career-best 7-66 as Abbottabad made 158 in reply to the reigning champions’ 237 at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.

Our Sports Reporter adds from Lahore: Former Test left-hander Qaiser Abbas hit an unbeaten 124 to put National Bank in driving seat against Habib Bank at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Qaiser, who was batting on 60 at start of play on Thursday, slammed 16 fours in a 168-ball as National Bank reached an imposing 412 after resuming their first innings at 267-5.

Young paceman Mohammad Talha then captured three quick wickets to have Habib Bank reeling at 52-3 before two ex-Test men – Taufiq Umar and skipper Hasan Raza – came together to share a stand of 115.

Opener Taufiq held the innings to strike 14 fours in an unbeaten 87 off 124 balls while Hasan made a fluent 61-ball 64 with 14 fours.

Wapda are in sight of victory against Lahore Shalimar at the LCCA Ground after leading by 54 runs on the first innings.

Replying to the regional team’s 173, Wapda added 127 to their overnight 100-4 before they were all out for 227 with medium-pacer Mohammad Saeed returning career-best figures of 6-82.

Lahore Shalimar led by 85 runs as they scored 139-4 in the second innings.

A maiden century by Ali Waqas enabled Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited build a massive lead over Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) at the Sheikhupura Stadium.

SNGPL, replying to SSGC’s 160, amassed 418-6 after starting the day at 10-1-1. Left-handed Ali Waqas stole the show with a fine 147 off 255 balls. His knock included 19 fours. Together with Mohammad Hafeez (89 with nine fours and one six), Ali put on 167 for the second wicket before Azhar Shafiq (67 with seven fours) joined hands to add 130 for the third wicket.

SNGPL skipper Misbah-ul-Haq made just 20 before he was bowled by paceman Shakeel-ur-Rehman who has so far taken 4-90.

Scores on Thursday (day two of four):

Group ‘A’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: KARACHI WHITES 192 in 64.3 overs (Naveed Khan 55, Afsar Nawaz 51); PIA 375-4 in 99 overs (Khurram Manzoor 133, Agha Sabir 98, Shoaib Khan 68).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: NATIONAL BANK 412 in 121 overs (Qaiser Abbas 124 not out, Fawad Alam 98, Rashid Riaz 60; Danish Kaneria 3-118); HABIB BANK 207-5 in 43 overs (Taufiq Umar 87 not out, Hasan Raza 64; Mohammad Talha 3-72).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE SHALIMAR 173 in 42.2 overs (Suleman Khan 61; Sarfraz Ahmed 4-36, Umaid Asif 4-60) and 139-4 in 39.4 overs (Abid Ali 65, Mohammad Saad 35); WAPDA 227 in 78.3 overs (Jahangir Mirza 45, Ali Azmat 42; Mohammad Saeed 6-82).

At Sheikhupura Stadium: SSGC 160 in 56.2 overs (Azeem Ghumman 88; Samiullah Niazi 5-41, Yasir Shah 3-31); SNGPL 418-6 in 109 overs (Ali Waqas 147, Mohammad Hafeez 89, Azhar Shafiq 67; Shakeel-ur-Rehman 4-90).

AT KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: KRL 259 in 86.4 overs (Zahoor Elahi 105, Noman Ali 46; Junaid Nadir 6-60) and 5-0 in 1 over; ZTBL 243 in 74 overs (Shahid Yousuf 50, Imran Nazir 44, Zohaib Khan 42; Noman Ali 4-45).

Group ‘B’:

At National Ground, Islamabad: RAWALPINDI 271 in 65 overs (Babar Naeem 50, Naveed Qureshi 40, Yasim Murtaza 36; Tariq Haroon 3-65, Tanvir Ahmed 3-100) and 161 in 59.5 overs (Zahid Mansoor 57; Tanvir Ahmed 7-70, Tariq Haroon 3-45); KARACHI BLUES 152 in 50.5 overs (Tanvir Ahmed 29; Mohammad Rameez 6-50).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: QUETTA 163 in 51.1 overs Faisal Irfan 47 not out; Nasrullah 4-35, Rauf Akbar 3-31, Shahzad Azam 3-71) and 253-6 in 60 overs (Shahzad Tareen 70, Ata-ur-Rehman 52 not out, Shoaib Khan 35); ISLAMABAD 215 in 52 overs (Fakhir Hussain 74; Arun Lal 3-64, Nazar Hussain 3-72).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: FAISALABAD 321 in 100.4 overs (Mohammad Salman 89, Ammar Mahmood 70, Zeeshan Asif 38; Abdul Ghaffar 4-69, Waqas Ahmed 3-62, Mohammad Irshad 3-103); LAHORE RAVI 182-7 in 63 overs (Javed Hussain 49; Zulqarnain 3-61).

At Lahore Country Club, Muridke: HYDERABAD 284 in 88.5 overs (Mohammad Owais 113, Shahid Qambrani 36; Imran Khan 6-85, Nauman Habib 3-61) and 86-0 in 20.5 overs (Sharjeel Khan 42 not out); PESHAWAR 197 in 48.5 overs (Mir Ali Talpur 5-80, Naeem-ur-Rehman 3-57).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium: SIALKOT 237 in 90 overs (Hafiz Majid Jahangir 116; M. Junaid Khan 5-70) and 49-1 in 17 overs; ABBOTTABAD 178 in 55 overs (Khalid Usman 58 not out; Naved Arif 7-66).