KARACHI: A fiery spell from Pakistan left-armer Junaid Khan made life miserable for SNGPL as the champions crashed to season’s lowest total of 35 in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship and giving HBL complete control of their penultimate-round Pool ‘A’ clash on Friday.

Replying to HBL’s 270 at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, SNGPL resumed day two at 3-1 but their overnight innings lasted another 18.2 overs as Junaid wreaked havoc while returning his best first-class figures of 7-17 in 11 overs, improving upon his previous best haul of 7-46.

Missing a number of first-choice players because of national duty, SNGPL’s bench-strength was cruelly exposed by Junaid, who was somewhat surprisingly was not considered for the ongoing Test series against Australia despite taking 4-19 against Bangladesh in his only appearance during the recent Asia Cup.

Barring Bilawal Bhatti’s 15, the rest fell by the wayside with innings recording four more ducks to Taufiq Umar’s first-day nought — when the former Test left-handed opener was caught behind off Junaid.

In a strong reminder to the national selectors that he’s still good enough to represent the country at Test level, the format he last played three years ago in Colombo and one whose track record in the demanding UAE conditions is exceptional compared to other pacemen, Junaid sliced through the feeble batting line-up. Among his notable victims was retired Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq who was caught by Ramiz Aziz without opening his account during a 10-minute stay.

Khurram Shahzad, the seamer from Karachi, took two of the final wickets to fall without conceding any runs in his two overs.

Amir takes 3-31 on return to domestic cricket

Remarkably, all 10 dismissals were caught with wicket-keeper Jamal Anwar and Ramiz in the slips holding four catches each and Zohaib Khan the remaining two.

HBL skipper Imran Farhat decided against enforcing the follow on despite having a commanding first-innings lead of 235 owing to concerns over fitness worries over skipper Umar Gul while Junaid was suffering from a stomach problem.

By stumps, HBL extended the overall lead to a colossal 410 as they reached 175-6 in the second innings with Imran making 62 to go with his 75 on Thursday.

Career-best knocks from the overnight pair of Omair Bin Yousuf and Shehzar Mohammad plus Saad Ali’s century guided Karachi Whites to a massive 600-6 declared before hosts Multan stumbled to 21-2 in reply at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Resuming at 280-1, the visitors relentlessly added 320 runs with Omair (130) and Shehzar (135), having already shared a marathon stand of 272 by Thursday evening during their second first-class centuries, were only separated after they had put on 332.

The 19-year-old Omair was dismissed for a 301-ball 163 (23 boundaries) in what was his second century in four first-class matches, while Shehzar, a 26-year-old right-hander, provided some glimpses of his legendary grandfather Hanif Mohammad and his own father Shoaib Mohammad — both of whom played for Pakistan with great distinction — while grinding out for 643 minutes to make 265 from 464 deliveries with the aid of 39 fours and one six.

Shehzar and the left-handed Saad, who struck 129 off 170 balls (17 fours and one six), further demoralised the opposition in a second-wicket partnership of 238 before a late flurry of wickets made skipper Anwar Ali closed the Karachi innings during Multan delivered 161.1 overs.

Hazrat Shah, the 23-year-old paceman from Dir, was a villain in a guest role in taking 6-22 in 10.3 overs to help Islamabad bowl out Peshawar for 82 at the Diamond Club Ground, giving the home side a big lead of 194.

Islamabad consolidated their grip further by closing at 175-9 in their second innings to enjoy an overall lead of 369.

After the bizarre events on Thursday when the pitch at the Marghazar Cricket Ground in Islamabad was deemed ‘dangerous’ which eventually to match being abandoned after just 6.1 overs were bowled in which Wapda, opting to bat first, were 19-1, normalcy prevailed on Friday.

This time it was SSGCL’s stand-in skipper Sami Aslam who won the toss but opted to bowl first with play getting underway after a delay of an hour since the new pitch was still going last-minute preparations.

Mohammad Amir, who paid a big price for his wicketless Asia Cup campaign when he was dropped for the Australia Tests, has so far picked up 3-31 in 13 overs — including the prized scalp of Wapda captain Salman Butt, trapped LBW for 18 — and spinner Kashif Bhatti 4-62 as Wapda collected 172-9 in 58.4 overs.

Despite a breezy 80-ball 78 (13 fours) from Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz, Rawalpindi were bowled out for 136 in reply to Lahore Blues’ 334 at the Gaddafi Stadium with former Pakistan paceman Aizaz Cheema capturing 5-53 in 17 overs.

Following on, the visitors reached 29-0.

Left-hander Sardar Hasan Raza slammed a career-high 165 (284 balls, 22 fours and two sixes) as KRL rallied from 75-4 overnight to post 347 in response to NBP’s meagre tally of 139 at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi. The bankers then went to stumps at 26-0 in the second innings.

Skipper Asif Afridi’s left-arm spinners fetch him 6-39 in 27.3 overs as Fata took control by forcing Lahore Whites to bat again after bowling them out or 180 in reply to their score of 335 at Lahore’s LCCA Ground.

Close of play scores on Friday (day two of four):

Sixth round:

Pool ‘A’:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: HBL 270 in 76.4 overs (Imran Farhat 75, Umar Akmal 55, Jamal Anwar 46 not out, Mohammad Waqas 36; Imran Khalid 4-48, Bilawal Bhatti 3-58, Mohammad Imran 2-35) and 175-6 in 58 overs (Imran Farhat 62, Ramiz Aziz 33, Abid Ali 24, Jamal Anwar 23 not out; Samiullah Khan Niazi 2-43); SNGPL 35 in 22.2 overs (Bilawal Bhatti 15; Junaid Khan 7-17, Khurram Shahzad 2-0).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: FATA 335 in 98.5 overs (Asad Afridi 91, Rehan Afridi 64, Samiullah Jr 58, Mohammad Talha 28, Mohammad Naeem 22; Waqas Ahmed 5-142, Bilal Anwar 3-68, Mohammad Irfan 2-70); LAHORE WHITES 180 in 71.3 overs (Mohammad Irfan 63, Ameer Hamza 28, Nauman Anwar 21; Asif Afridi 6-39, Mohammad Talha 2-48) and 28-0 in 7 overs.

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: NBP 139 in 46.3 overs (Sadaf Hussain 5-44, Ahmed Bashir 2-32, Sameen Gul 2-45) and 26-0 in 3.3 overs; KRL 347 in 103.4 overs (Sardar Hasan Raza 165, Mohammad Mohsin 39, Gulraiz Sadaf 29, Azeem Ghumman 28, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 27; Hammad Azam 4-102, Ghulam Mudassar 3-72, Kamran Ghulam 2-27).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ISLAMABAD 276 in 76.4 overs (Ali Salman 60, Ali Sarfraz 47, Fahad Iqbal 33, Faizan Riaz 22; Mohammad Ilyas 5-69, Taj Wali 2-50) and 175-9 in 46.5 overs (Ali Sarfraz 52, Rizwan Ali 28, Faizan Riaz 21; Mohammad Ilyas 4-61, Nasir Ahmed 3-42, Musadiq Ahmed 2-39); PESHAWAR 82 in 27.3 overs (Hazrat Shah 6-22, Mohammad Arham 2-21, Mohammad Hamza Nadeem 2-36).

Pool ‘B’:

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: KARACHI WHITES 600-6 declared in 161.1 overs (Shehzar Mohammad 265, Omair Bin Yousuf 163, Saad Ali 129; Ghulam Rehman 2-105, Ali Usman 2-150); MULTAN 21-2 in 9.1 overs.

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: LAHORE BLUES 334 in 105.3 overs (Rizwan Hussain 94, Bilawal Iqbal 64, Farhan Khan 55, Zafar Gohar 30, Fahad-ul-Haq 25, Tayyab Tahir 23; Haseeb Azam 4-61, Syed Tauseeq Shah 3-108); RAWALPINDI 136 in 37.3 overs (Mohammad Nawaz 78; Aizaz Cheema 5-53, Shahid Nawaz 2-35, Bilawal Iqbal 2-37) and 29-0 in 7.3 overs (Tayyab Riaz 23 not out).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: PTV 158 in 55.3 overs (Mohammad Irfan Jr 35, Saud Shakeel 25, Hasan Mohsin 24; Imran Khan 4-54, Mohammad Ali 3-22, Luqman Butt 2-47); ZTBL 290-6 in 104 overs (Saadullah Ghauri 81, Raza Ali Dar 73, Shakeel Ansar 44 not out, Luqman Butt 29 not out, Anas Mustafa 24; Tabish Khan 3-74, Aamir Jamal 2-50).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad (day one of three): WAPDA 172-9 in 58.4 overs (Sadaif Mehdi 43, Khalid Usman 26 not out, Mohammad Saad 23, Mohammad Abubakar 23; Kashif Bhatti 4-62, Mohammad Amir 3-31) vs SSGCL.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2018