KARACHI: Multan and Bahawalpur held upper hand on the first day of their respective semi-final in the PCB-Pepsi Cricket Stars Under-16 cricket tournament in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Multan thrived on fine knocks from Mohammad Faizan (85) and Rao Irfan (62) to collect a competitive 245 all out in their first innings after being asked to bat first by Abbottabad at the Bhutto Cricket Stadium. Mansoor Ali claimed four wickets for 75.

Abbottabad, however, were in some bother at 84-4 in 29 overs of their reply with their hopes for a decent total pinned on Arsalan Ajmal who is batting with 32.

In the other semi-final at the Diamond Clun Ground, half-centuries from Mohammad Umair (65) and Hamza Khan (50) guided Bahawalpur to 224-8 in 70 overs after their side chose to bat first against Karachi.

Saad Zahid was Karachi’s best bowler with 4-52, while paceman Mohammad Umar took three for 50.

Karachi lost half their side for 141 in 42 overs. Ammad Alam held their innings together with an unbeaten 48. Azam Khan scored 39.

Close of play scores on Wednesday (day one of two):

At Bhutto Cricket Stadium, Islamabad: MULTAN 245 in 64.4 overs (Mohammad Faizan 85, Rao Irfan 62, Ahmed Sultan 26, Umar Sadiq 24, Sharon Siraj 23; Mansoor Ali 4-75, Mohammad Ismail 2-21); ABBOTTABAD 84-4 in 29 overs (Arsalan Ajmal 32 not out, Khayyam Khan 29; Mohammad Hamza 2-18).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: BAHAWALPUR 224-8 in 70 overs (Mohammad Umair 65, Hamza Khan 50, Ali Imran 35 not out, Sajid Iqbal 32; Saad Zahid 4-52, Mohammad Umar 3-50); KARACHI 141-5 in 42 overs (Ammad Alam 48 not out, Azam Khan 39, Asad Ali 24; Ahmed Raza 3-29, Sajid Iqbal 1-11, Naved Ramzan 1-30).

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2014