Zulfiqar takes five as Karachi Blues’ batting sinks

KARACHI: Former Pakistan spinner Zulfiqar Babar wrecked Karachi Blues’ batting with five wickets as Multan overwhelmingly dominated day one of the four-day Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-II Cricket Tournament final on Tuesday.

In a matter of 253 minutes, Karachi Blues were bowled out for a disappointing first-innings total of only 154 before the hosts completed their day at 72-2 in reply.

Put into bat by Saeed Anwar Jr at the Multan Cricket Stadium, Karachi Blues got off to the worst possible start when the first three wickets fell in quick successions as the new-ball pairing of the gangling left-arm speedster Mohammad Irfan and all-rounder Aamir Yamin got rid of Ammad Alam (5), captain Rameez Raja (1) and Saud Shakeel (0) without any addition to the score of seven.

After the fourth wicket was claimed Multan at 31, Karachi Blues replicated their early sufferings when another lot of three went down while the total remained 50 with just Fahaddis Bukhari (23 off 54 balls, two fours) and Ramiz Aziz (10 off 47, one four) reaching double figures among those dismissed.

The tail then wagged vigorously for the visitors as Ashiq Ali, the upcoming off-spinner who is talented enough to turn into a fine all-rounder, and Mohammad Asghar led a spirited fightback in a gallant eighth-wicket partnership of 61 in 89 minutes.

At this point, Asghar was caught behind by Maqbool Ahmed for a gutsy knock of 33 from 72 balls that included five fours.

Mohammad Umar (17 off 44 balls, one six and one four) joined Ashiq in another productive stand of 38 in 51 minutes before too was held by the wicket-keeper.

Ashiq, easily the chief run-getter with 47, was last man out after batting for 143 minutes and striking six boundaries in his 97-ball innings.

Zulfiqar ended up with figures of five for 50 in 21.2 overs with Aamir taking three for 33 in 15 overs with the left-armers Irfan and Zia-ul-Haq sharing the remaining wickets, while Maqbool also excelled with five catches.

Karachi Blues needed wickets in a cluster upfront but managed only a brace of them in the space of five runs with Zain Abbas falling to young fast bowler Mohammad Umar for 16 (20 balls, three fours) and Asghar dismissing Imran Rafiq for a 10-ball duck.

But Waqar Hussain, the other opener, held his end intact to score a patient 32 with his 83-ball innings, lasting 112 minutes, containing five boundaries. With Sohaib Maqsood not playing in this title-decider after sustaining a shoulder injury during the Pakistan Cup final in Faisalabad on Sunday, Abdul Rehman Muzammil took up the responsibility of taking the No 4 slot.

By stumps, Rehman — a seasoned campaigner in domestic cricket, had progressed to a watchful 38-ball 15 (one four) while adding 37 in 62 minutes with Waqar for the unbroken third-wicket partnership.

The winners of this event would earn direct entry to first-class Quaid-i-Azam Trophy next season.

Scoreboard

KARACHI BLUES (1st Innings):

Rameez Raja c Maqbool b Aamir 1
Ammad Alam c Zain b Irfan 5
Saud Shakeel c Maqbool b Aamir 0
Ramiz Aziz c Maqbool b Zia 10
Fahaddis Bukhari b Aamir 23
Hasan Mohsin c Ali b Zulfiqar 9
Saifullah Khan Bangash c Zia b Zulfiqar 0
Ashiq Ali b Zulfiqar 47
Mohammad Asghar c Maqbool b Zulfiqar 33
Mohammad Umar c Maqbool b Zulfiqar 17
Mir Hamza not out 5

EXTRAS (LB-4) 4

TOTAL (all out, 61.2 overs) 154

FALL OF WKTS: 1-7, 2-7, 3-7, 4-31, 5-50, 6-50, 7-50, 8-111, 9-147.

BOWLING: Mohammad Irfan 13-5-23-1; Aamir Yamin 15-4-33-3; Zia-ul-Haq 9-2-36-0; Zulfiqar Babar 21.2-6-50-5; Saeed Anwar Jr 3-1-8-0.

MULTAN (1st Innings):

Zain Abbas c Hasan b Umar 16
Waqar Hussain not out 32
Imran Rafiq c Saud b Asghar 0
Abdul Rehman Muzammil not out 15

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-1, NB-3) 8

TOTAL (for two wkts, 26 overs) 71

FALL OF WKTS: 1-29, 2-34.

TO BAT: Saeed Anwar Jr, Ali Hasnain, Maqbool Ahmed, Aamir Yamin, Zulfiqar Babar, Zia-ul-Haq, Mohammad Irfan.

BOWLING (to-date): Mir Hamza 7-1-22-0; Mohammad Umar 7-4-17-1 (3nb); Mohammad Asghar 7-2-14-1; Hasan Mohsin 2-1-5-0; Ashiq Ali 3-0-8-0.

UMPIRES: Akmal Hayat and Jamshed Iqbal.