KARACHI: Faisalabad made a solid start against Dera Murad Jamali on the opening day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-II Cricket Tournament fixture at the National Stadium here on Tuesday.

After being put into bat in the three-day game, Faisalabad reached 295-8 in the stipulated first-innings quota of 83 overs. Khurram Shehzad (62, nine fours and one six), wicket-keeper Ali Shan (an unbeaten 60, nine fours and one six) and Abubakar Khan (58, 10 boundaries) were the main run-getters.

Paceman Saleem Mal and slow left-armer Ghulam Mohammad claimed three wickets each before Dera Murad Jamali closed the day at 13-0.

Spinner Ali Usman took 4-32 as Multan bowled out Azad Jammu Kashmir for 158 after opting to field at the Multan Cricket Stadium. By stumps, the home side had advanced to 53-0 in 16 overs.

Slow left-armer Nauman Ali grabbed 5-49 as Hyderabad restricted Abbottabad to 233 all out in 62.1 overs.

But Hyderabad then stuttered in their reply as they collected 78-4 at close of play.

Despite a gutsy contribution of 83 from 64 balls by Asif Babar, Larkana could only make 193 all out in 47.4 overs against Bahawalpur, who opted to bowl first at the Dring Stadium in Bahawalpur.

Leg-spinner Imranullah Aslam captured six wickets for 61 runs.

Bahawalpur then batted themselves into a commanding position by reaching 158-2 with skipper Adeel Basit (52) and Moinuddin (66) adding 107 for the unfinished third-wicket partnership.

Close of play scores on Tuesday (day one of three):

Group ‘A’:

At Dring Stadium, Bahawalpur: LARKANA 193 in 47.4 overs (Asif Babar 83, Javed Ahmed 42; Imranullah Aslam 6-61, Mazhar Bashir 2-23, Ali Adnan 2-28); BAHAWALPUR 153-2 in 40 overs (Moinuddin 66 not out, Adeel Basit 52 not out).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 158 in 50.4 overs (Daniyal 43; Ali Usman 4-32, Sadaif Mehdi 3-42, Zia-ul-Haq 2-38); MULTAN 53-0 in 16 overs (Zain Abbas 28 not out).

Group ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: FAISALABAD 295-8 in 83 overs (Khurram Shehzad 62, Ali Shan 60 not out, Abu Bakar Khan 58, Abdul Samad 45, Usman Arshad 38; Saleem Mal 3-62, Ghulam Mohammad 3-80, Zahoor Khan 2-86); DERA MURAD JAMALI 13-0 in 5 overs.

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: ABBOTTABAD 233 in 62.1 overs (Riaz Kail 49, Khalilullah 45, Fakhar Zaman 36, Khalid Usman 36; Nauman Ali 5-49, Nasir Awais 3-84); HYDERABAD 78-4 in 27 overs (Zeeshan Gul 40 not out; Ikramullah Khan 2-16).

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2017