KARACHI: Scintillating centuries from Mishal Khan and Ahmed Butt helped Faisalabad stage a remarkable turnaround against Karachi Blues on day two of their triangular-stage fixture in the PCB Under-19 Inter-region three-day tournament in Mirpur on Tuesday.

Mishah slammed 123 off 155 balls with the aid of 17 boundaries and a brace of sixes, while Ahmed scored a 163-ball 101 that included 15 fours and one six as the pair rescued their side from 92-5 to a commanding 396-9 in the allotted 83 overs of their first innings at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium.

Faisalabad, who were overnight already in trouble at 67-3 in response to Karachi Blues first-innings’ total of 290, soon found themselves in further problems when seamer Mohammad Mustafa grabbed two more wickets.

But Ahmed and Mishal then came together not only to repair the damage but also ensured Faisalabad take a substantial lead of 106.

Mustafa returned figures of 5-104 in 19 overs while slow left-armer Khafid-un-Nabi claimed two wickets for 82 runs in 21 overs.

Karachi Blues now faced a uphill battle to avert defeat on Wednesday’s last day as they stuttered to 68-5 in their second innings after opting to tinker with their batting order.

These teams will clash again in the four-day title-deicer which starts at the same venue from Saturday.

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

Triangular stage, round three:

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur: KARACHI BLUES 290 in 73.3 overs (Ali Nasim 138, Taha Mahmood 26, Ahsanullah 26, Anas Ilyas 21, Mohammad Nafay 20; Suleman Shafqat 5-100, Yousuf Khan 3-66, Ali Mustafa 2-57) and 68-5 in 25.1 overs (Mohammad Mustafa 19; Suleman Shafqat 2-19); FAISALABAD 396-9 in 83 overs (Mishal Khan 134, Ahmed Butt 101, Mohammad Irfan Khan 44, Ali Haider 26, Danish Rashid 25; Mohammad Mustafa 5-104, Khafid-un-Nabi 2-82).

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2018