KARACHI: Karachi Zebras’ hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the Silver League event of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship hung in the balance as Quetta Bears obtained the all-important lead on the first innings at the NBP Sports Complex here on Wednesday.

Replying to the Zebras’ much below-par total of 187, the Bears extended their overnight 8-0 to 256-8 at the midway point in the four-day Group-I game.

Arun Lal (73 not out off 250 balls, six boundaries) and Rameez Raja Jr (67 off 112, six fours and three sixes) shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 101 before leg-spinner Mansoor Ahmed separated them by bowling Rameez.

Mansoor took two further wickets to end the day with six for 77 in 32.3 overs.

Hyderabad Hawks need to bat well to overhaul Lahore Eagles’ 334 all out in the other Group-I fixture at the LCCA Ground in Lahore. By close of play, the Hawks had somewhat struggled to 130-4.

Bahawalpur Stags are almost through to the knockout round after dominating their Group-II rivals Faisalabad Wolves at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

The Stags secured a substantial first-innings lead of 122 by taking their overnight score fr0om 98-7 to 198 all out. Number 10 batsman Zahir Siddiqui was their hero with a maiden half century in first-class cricket. He struck eight fours and one six to make 62 from 75 balls to surpass his previous best score of 34.

Spinner Sadaqat Ali snared seven wickets for 78 runs in a career-best effort but despite his heroics with the ball, the Wolves then slumped to 98-4 in their second innings.

Sialkot Stallions staged a great comeback after conceding a 21-run lead to Abbottabad Falcons at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. After being all out for 208, the Stallions then had the Falcons tottering at 70-8 in the second innings with paceman Waqas Ahmed taking six for 36 thus far.

An unfinished stand of 244 in 204 minutes between Shaharyar Ghani (152 off 180 balls, 17 fours and one six) and Shoaib Khan (114 off 142, 16 boundaries) allowed PIA to declare their first innings at 468 in reply to Pakistan Television (PTV) at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.

Beginning their second innings with a massive deficit of 335, PTV reached 34-1 by close of play.

Babar Azam struck 92 (154 balls, 12 fours and one six) to help State Bank accumulate 248-4 after dismissing SSGC for 312 at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha.

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

Group-I:

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: KARACHI ZEBRAS 187 in 84.2 overs (Ahmed Iqbal 65, Faraz Patel 49; Gohar Faiz 5-56, Nazar Hussain 3-47, Zainullah 2-43); QUETTA BEARS 256-8 in 99.3 overs (Arun Lal 73 not out, Rameez Raja Jr 67, Taimur Khan 38; Mansoor Ahmed 6-77, Maroof Aziz 2-48).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE EAGLES 334 in 113.3 overs (Fahad-ul-Haq 138, Asif Raza 40, Mohammad Waqas 31; Babar Khan 5-114, Mir Ali Talpur 3-71, Lal Kumar 2-51); HYDERABAD HAWKS 130-4 in 45 overs (Mohammad Saddam 39; Asif Raza 2-38).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: PAKISTAN TELEVISION 133 in 42 overs (Hasan Raza Jr 38, Mohammad Kashif 30; Najaf Shah 6-31, Ali Imran Pasha 3-57) and 34-1 in 7.4 overs; PIA 468-6 declared in 98 overs (Shaharyar Ghani 152 not out, Shoaib Khan 114 not out, Faisal Iqbal 47, Rafaiy Safdar 39, Shahzar Mohammad 33; Mohammad Abbas 3-146, Ali Raza 2-114).

Group-II:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: FAISALABAD WOLVES 76 in 31.2 overs (Raheel Ameer 24; Zahir Siddiqui 6-36, Imranullah Aslam 3-10) and 98-4 in 57 overs (Imranullah Aslam 2-34); BAHAWALPUR STAGS 198 in 83.2 overs (Zahir Siddiqui 62, Bilal Khilji 37; Sadaqat Ali 7-78, Naseer Akram 2-18).

At Sports Stadium, Sargodha: SSGC 312 in 101.2 overs (Mohammad Waqas 76, Saifullah Khan Bangash 74, Mohammad Irfan 54 not out, Usman Tariq 31; Zafar Gohar 5-80, Kashif Bhatti 2-85); STATE BANK 248-4 in 70 overs (Babar Azam 92, Usman Salahuddin 55 not out, Maqbool Ahmed 55).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad; ABBOTTABAD FALCONS 229 in 63.5 overs (Ikramullah Khan 46 not out, Nasir Khan 41, Khalilullah 32; Waqas Ahmed 4-82, Hasan Ali 3-68) and 70-8 in 23 overs (Zubair Ali 26; Waqas Ahmed 6-26); SIALKOT STALLIONS 208 in 66.4 overs (Faisal Khan 53, Salman Cheema 44; Ikramullah Khan 4-39, Aziz-ur-Rehman 4-48).

Published in Dawn, November 20th , 2014