KARACHI: Hosts Multan were closing in on an emphatic victory in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-II Cricket Tournament after Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) slumped to 62-7 in their second innings on Wednesday.

Earlier, Multan rode on a 228-run opening partnership between Zain Abbas (116 off 178 balls, 13 fours and one six) and Waqar Hussain (108 off 171, nine boundaries) to collect 395-5 in response to AJK’s first-innings tally of 158 on day two of the three-day fixture.

Fakhar Zaman, who is being touted to tour West Indies with the Pakistan team, struck 132 in a 130-ball innings, spiced with 16 boundaries and a brace of sixes, as Abbottabad declared their second innings at 299-7 to set Hyderabad a daunting 400 for victory at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad.

Fakhar and Kamran Ghulam (79, eight fours and one six) added 205 for the second wicket after Abbottabad shot out the home team for 133 in the first innings earlier in the day with the pace trio of Ahmed Jamal (4-28), Ikramullah Khan (3-32) and Salman Saeed (2-32) sharing the wickets.

Zeeshan Gul, however, stood out for Hyderabad as the opener carried his bat to finish undefeated with 59. The hosts reached 18-1 in the second innings after Haris Ali bagged a ‘pair’.

Faisalabad earned a slender lead of seven runs on the first innings after Dera Murad Jamali collected 288 here at the National Stadium.

Despite Asif Babar making a fighting 93 — to follow his 83 on Tuesday — Larkana were facing certain defeat after reaching 190-7 in their second innings against Bahawalpur at the Dring Stadium in Bahawalpur.

The visitors conceded a decisive first-innings lead of 171 as Bahawalpur converted their overnight tally of 153-2 into 364-8. Moinuddin scored 143 off 200 balls with the aid of 15 fours and four sixes.

Close of play scores on Wednesday (day two 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) and 190-7 in 48 overs (Asif Babar 93, Mohammad Urs 62; Mohammad Imran 3-54, Adeel Basit 2-18, Imranullah Aslam 2-43); BAHAWALPUR 364-8 in 83 overs (Moinuddin 143, Imranullah Aslam 62, Adeel Basit 61, Mazhar Bashir 31; Imtiaz Leghari 3-89, Faraz Ahmed 2-22, Imran Chandio 2-106).

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) and 62-7 in 21 overs (Sadaif Mehdi 6-19); MULTAN 395-5 in 83 overs (Zain Abbas 116, Waqar Hussain 108, Shahzad Ali 55, Imran Rafiq 54 not out, Junaid Iqbal 49; Khawaja Usman 2-91, Salman Irshad 2-97).

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) and 13-0 in 7 overs; DERA MURAD JAMALI 288-9 in 83 overs (Imran Khan 68, Abid Ali 67, Najeebullah 37, Zahoor Khan 37; Ahmed Safi 2-57, Ehsan Adil 2-69).

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) and 299-7 declared in 54.4 overs (Fakhar Zaman 132, Kamran Ghulam 79, Nasir Khan 39; Mohammad Hasnain 3-46, Nasir Awais 3-89); HYDERABAD 133 in 46 overs (Zeeshan Gul 59 not out; Ahmed Jamal 4-28, Ikramullah Khan 3-32, Salman Saeed 2-32) and 18-1 in 12 overs.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2017