KARACHI: Karachi Port Trust (KPT) moved within sight of reaching the semi-finals of the Patron’s Trophy Grade-II cricket tournament after reducing Port Qasim to 35-3 on day one of their third-round fixture in Gujranwala on Wednesday.

After batting first in the Pool ‘B’ game at the Jinnah Stadium, KPT rode on opener Anas Mahmood’s excellent contribution of 159 (off 238 balls, 16 fours and two sixes) to post 295-7 in the stipulated first-innings quota. His opening partner Nadeem Javed slammed 11 boundaries and a six in a blazing 75-ball knock of 77.

PIA’s hopes of putting up a decent fight were dashed when they were blown away by the pace of Aamir Jamal — who claimed eight wickets for 40 runs — for a paltry total of 140 after being put into bat by Capital Development Authority (CDA) in the Pool ‘C’ fixture at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

By stumps CDA had already taken lead by reaching 203-3 in 43 overs.

K-Electric suffered an inexplicable batting debacle when they crumbled to 143 all out after being asked to bat by Haideri Traders in the Pool ‘A’ match here at the UBL Sports Complex.

Haideri Traders had replied with 128-3 in38.2 overs.

Railways were well-placed at 140-2 after dismissing Higher Education Commission (HEC) for 145 in their Pool ‘D’ encounter at the Railways Stadium.

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

Third round:

Pool ‘A’:

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: SBP 165 in 59.3 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 34, Rizwan Hussain 34; Raza-ul-Hasan 3-31); NAVY 75-1 in 24 overs (Hafiz Asad Baig 32 not out).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: CAA 234 in 75.3 overs (Abid Ali 78, Shiraz Ali 32; Ghulam Rehman 4-57); OMAR ASSOCIATES 27-1 in 12 overs.

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: K-ELECTRIC 143 in 46.4 overs (Saeed Bin Nasir 37; Izzat Agha 5-53, Jalat Khan 3-23); HAIDERI TRADERS 128-3 in 38.2 overs (Momin Waqar 40, Mohammad Asif 38).

Pool ‘B’:

At Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala: KPT 295-7 in 83 overs (Anas Mahmood 159, Nadeem Javed 77, Rashid Hanif 48, Taimur Ali 40; Azam Hussain 3-130); PORT QASIM 35-3 in 6 overs (Khalid Mahmood 2-8).

At Rana Naved-ul-Hasan Academy, Sheikhupura: PAF 337 in 79 overs (Awais Iqbal 66, Mohammad Shahzad 66, Imran Khan 40, Danish Ali 32, Mohammad Saleem 30; Abdullah Nawaz 3-56, Aftab Azwar 3-89); AHMED GLASS 46-1 in 9 overs.

Pool ‘C’:

At Army Cricket Ground, Rawalpindi: ARMY 337 in 68.1 overs (Muzaffar Iqbal 77, Mohammad Nafees 72, Mohammad Tanvir 50, Mohammad Atif 32; Mohammad Akhtar 4-125); PAK SAUDI 46-1 in 9 overs.

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ZTBL 278 in 82 overs (Shakeel Ansar 61, Saad Nasim 54, Bilawal Iqbal 51 not out, Hamza Nadeem 38, Aaqib Shah 38; Waqar Khan 3-90); OGDCL 11-3 in 6 overs (Mohammad Ali 3-9).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: PIA 140 in 40.1 overs (Fahad Iqbal 38, Shahzar Mohammad 32, Faisal Iqbal 30; Aamir Jamal 8-40); CDA 203-3 in 43 overs (Faizan Riaz 53 not out, Umar Kiyani 51, Naved Malik 50, Usman Ali 31).

Pool ‘D’:

AT Railway Stadium, Lahore: HEC 145 in 48.3 overs (Ali Zaib 72; Asif Raza 6-47, Shahid Nawaz 3-32); RAILWAYS 140-2 in 41 overs (Zain-ul-Hasnain 44, Imran Ali 34).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: GHANI GLASS 297-9 in 83 overs (Afaq Shahid 88, Hasnain Bukhari 78 not out, Zeeshan Ashraf 40; Ahmed Shafiq 4-99); SABIR’S POULTRY 11-0 in 5 overs.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2018