KARACHI, Oct 14: Young opening batsman Talha Khan hammered a dazzling unbeaten double century as KCCA Zone-I amassed a mammoth 426 for seven against Zone-VII in the PCB Inter-district Senior Cricket Tournament here on Tuesday.

Talha’s 210 is the second multiple score in the tournament, following Saeed bin Nasir’s 211 for Zone-II last week.

Talha struck 22 fours and a six in his 267-ball knock in 314 minutes at the Asifabad Sports Ground. He was involved in two century partnerships. Wicket-keeper Rashid Ali blasted 13 boundaries in scoring 69 off 88 balls while putting on 123 in 90 minutes with Talha for the second wicket.

Skipper Fahim Ahmed then helped Talha add 152 for the fifth wicket in only 85 minutes. Fahim, who faced a mere 86 deliveries, stroked eight fours.

Zone-VII lost opener Nisar Niazi (0) and Test reject Hasan Raza (2) to medium-pacer Faisal Mirza before closing the day at 50 for two in nine overs.

Meanwhile, in sharp contrast to the runs galore in the Zone-I v Zone-VII match, Zone-III made a miraculous recovery from a calamitous situation of 82 for six to reach 272 in 83 overs against Zone-V at the Landhi Gymkhana Ground.

Seasoned wicket-keeper/batsman Aamir Iqbal led the rescue operation with a marvellous unbeaten 110. The right-hander from Pakistan Customs, playing his first game of the season, batted for just over four hours. His 213-ball innings was studded with nine boundaries and a towering six.

Veteran spinner Jaffar Qureshi also batted well to contribute a robust 54 off 77 balls while dominating an eighth-wicket stand of 90 in 76 minutes with Aamir.

Slow left-armer Aqeel Sharif snared four for 50 in 21 overs while left-arm medium-pacer chipped in with three for 47.

Zone-V responded with 11 for no wicket.

All-rounder Imran Javed was also involved in a rescue act after Zone-VI slumped to 76 for five before lifting themselves up to 290 for nine in their first innings’ quota of 90 overs against Zone-IV at the TMC ground.

Imran helped himself to 109 off 123 balls in a stay of two hours and 13 minutes. Waqar Kundi also played a sterling knock as he finished with an undefeated 75, having shared a seventh-wicket partnership of 127 with Imran.

Azam Hussain, the youthful slow left-armer, bowled 34 overs to claim four wickets for 104 runs. Khalid Latif, leading Zone-IV in this game, picked up three for 40 in 12 overs with his part-time medium-pacers

Zone-IV replied with 34 for the loss of opener Khurram Manzoor’s wicket.

Summarised scores:

*At Asifabad Sports Ground:

ZONE-I 426-7 in 90 overs (Talha Khan 210 not out, Fahim Ahmed 85, Rashid Ali 69, Salman Hussain 24; Raheel Waris 3-100, Faraz Patel 2-45, S.A. Fahim 2-136);

ZONE-VII 50-2 in 9 overs (Kamran Ahmed 31 not out; Faisal Mirza 2-21).

*At TMC Ground:

ZONE-VI 290-9 in 90 overs (Imran Javed 109, Waqar Kundi 75 not out, Rizwan Qureshi 28; Azam Hussain 4-104, Khalid Latif 3-40, Mohammad Farrukh 2-83);

ZONE-IV 34-1 in 11 overs.

*At Landhi Gymkhana Ground:

ZONE-III 272 in 83 overs (Aamir Iqbal 110 not out, Jaffar Qureshi 54, Shadab Kabir 34, Ahmed Zeeshan Malik 23; Aqeel Sharif 4-50, Malik Aftab 3-47, Anis Shaikh 2-51);

ZONE-V 11-0 in 5 overs.