KARACHI: Karachi Blues and Multan were poised to clash in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-II final after both regions dominated second day of their respective semi-finals on Sunday.

Karachi Blues built a commanding first-innings lead of 132 over Abbottabad by extending their Saturday’s tally of 59-1 to 301-4 in the stipulated 83 overs here at the National Stadium.

The highlight being Saud Shakeel’s knock of 106 (220 balls, 14 fours) as the left-hander put on 129 for the second wicket with opener Rameez Raja (80 off 175 balls, 11 fours).

Pakistan discard Fawad Alam, who is leading the home side, batted at No 6 to score an unbeaten 26.

Abbottabad then limped to 87-4 in the second innings to still trail by 45 runs heading into Monday’s third and final day.

The other semi-final at the Multan Cricket Stadium was evenly poised after the completion of first innings as Multan matched Hyderabad’s dismal by getting all out for 117 after losing the last wicket while adding six runs to the overnight tally.

Opener Zain Abbas carried his bat for 54 as paceman Nauman Akbar got rid of the lanky Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Irfan to finish with six for 56.

Hyderabad fared marginally better in the second innings as they reached 172 all out. Lal Kumar and Shoaib Leghari top-scored with 36 apiece, while Aamir Yamin, the Pakistan pace-bowling all-rounder, was the wrecker-in-chief with five wickets for 38 runs, giving him match bag of 8-48.

Chasing 173, Multan advanced to 78-1 by stumps and would need a further 95 on Monday.

Close of play scores on Sunday (day two of three):

Semi-finals:

At National Stadium, Karachi: ABBOTTABAD 169 in 64.3 overs (Imran Shah 47, Kamran Ghulam 37, Farhan Hussain 32; Mohammad Asghar 4-64, Mohammad Umar 2-27, Ashiq Ali 2-28) and 87-4 in 30 overs (Kamran Ghulam 26 not out, Farhan Hussain 22); KARACHI BLUES 301-4 in 83 overs (Saud Shakeel 106, Rameez Raja 80, Tariq Haroon 35, Saifullah Khan Bangash 30, Fawad Alam 26 not out; Faizan Elahi 2-64).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: HYDERABAD 117 in 48.1 overs (Shoaib Leghari 38, Saad Khan 27, Babar Khan 19; Aamir Yamin 3-10, Ahsan Baig 3-22, Zulfiqar Babar 2-49) and 172 in 50.2 overs (Lal Kumar 36, Shoaib Leghari 36, Saad Khan 29, Nauman Ali 22, Mohammad Suleman 21; Aamir Yamin 5-38, Ahsan Baig 2-61); MULTAN 117 in 37 overs (Zain Abbas 54 not out, Zulfiqar Babar 18, Zia-ul-Haq 18; Nauman Akbar 6-56, Babar Khan 3-38) and 78-1 in 23 overs (Waqar Hussain 30 not out, Zain Abbas 27, Imran Rafiq 20 not out).

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2018