KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited (HBL) were at the receiving end of a torrid opening day as Mehran Ibrahim and Mohammad Ilyas helped Peshawar dominate the last-round Super Eight stage tie in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship here on Monday.

Mehran, the 24-year-old right-hander, marked his return to first-class arena after 13 months in isolation on a memorable note when he struck an undefeated 107 to enable nullify HBL’s decision to bowl at the UBL Sports Complex where Peshawar posted a respectable 237 in their first innings.

Rookie paceman Ilyas then rocked HBL with triple strikes to leave the bankers in heaps of trouble at 22-3 before stumps were drawn for the day. HBL’s plight could have been much dreadful had Israrullah not spilled the catch when Imran Farhat edged the first delivery he faced from Ilyas into the slips.

Ilyas, who has modelled his bowling action on South African pace great Dale Steyn, has so far claimed 3-13 in five hostile overs.

But the day belonged in all fairness to Mehran who made the previous first-class appearance in October of last year. Pakistan T20 opener Sahibzada Farhan blazed his way to a run-a-ball 23 before being caught by Mohammad Waqas off Umar Gul. Fellow opener Israrullah (7) was bowled by Khurram Shahzad.

Saif Badar strikes maiden first-class ton

By lunch Peshawar lost a further two wickets to reach the interval at 81-4. The situation marginally improved for them as the total advanced to 178-8 by tea but soon after the break, they were 181-9 with Mehran still at the crease on 76.

Last man Akmal Khan Durrani (13) then arrived to give admirable support to Mehran who duly registered just his second hundred in 25 first-class matches. His outstanding 157-ball innings included 15 boundaries in a stay of 219 minutes.

Seasoned pace bowler Umar Gul finished with figures of 4-93 in 20 overs but the HBL bowling sorely missed the vastly-experienced spinner Abdur Rehman who is nursing a leg injury sustained in the drawn fixture with Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) last week.

SSGCL, who trail HBL by mere three points in the Group-II standings, enjoyed a good day one at Southend Club where young opener Omair Bin Yousuf carried his bat for 92 but his heroics were wasted as Karachi Whites collected only 158 in their first innings after Umar Amin chose to field first.

Omair desperately felt the absence of his regular partner Khurram Manzoor — the season’s highest run-getter with 886 who is currently away in Abu Dhabi on Pakistan ‘A’ duty in the one-off ‘Test against England Lions — as wickets tumbled like ninepins at the other end. His brave 222-ball knock in 298 minutes was laced with seven fours and one six.

Slow left-armer Kashif Bhatti (4-48 in 24 overs) and lanky Ahmed Jamal (3-36) shared the majority of wickets with occasional bowler Awais Zia taking 2-13 as SSGCL took the field without the Pakistan left-arm pace pair of Mohammad Amir and Usman khan Shinwari.

Awais then batted until stumps to make 36 in SSGCL’s reply of 81-2.

After six uneventful appearances at the first-class level since his debut in September 2017, prodigiously-talented Saif Badar finally hit the straps with a maiden century as Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) posted 272 against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) after Misbah-ul-Haq opted to bowl at the SBP Sports Complex.

The 20-year-old Saif, who was averaging 13.18 before this game, made 118 off 139 balls with the aid of 11 fours and three sixes while dominating a fifth-wicket stand of 118 with Gulraiz Sadaf (41).

SNGPL, the champions who presently top Group-I with 19 points, closed at 23-1 in response.

Slow left-armers Zulfiqar Babar (6-58 in 30.1 overs) and Khalid Usman (4-48 in 23) sent Lahore Blues reeling to 193 all out against Wapda on the spin-oriented NBP Complex track.

Wapda were in some bother as they two both openers to Zafar Gohar (2-5) in making 33 runs.

Close of play scores on Monday (day one of four):

Super Eight stage, third round:

Group-I:

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: KRL 272 in 70.3 overs (Saif Badar 118, Gulraiz Sadaf 41, Abdul Rehman Muzammil 21, Azeem Ghumman 20; Mohammad Musa Khan 3-66, Samiullah Khan Niazi 2-48, Bilawal Bhatti 2-50); SNGPL 23-1 in 9 overs.

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: LAHORE BLUES 193 in 78.1 overs (Ahmed Akram 57, Bilawal Iqbal 36, Saad Nasim 28; Zulfiqar Babar 6-58, Khalid Usman 4-48); WAPDA 33-2 in 13 overs.

Group-II:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: PESHAWAR 237 in 66.5 overs (Mehran Ibrahim 107 not out, Sajid Khan 27, Akbar Badshah 24, Sahibzada Farhan 23; Umar Gul 4-93, Khurram Shahzad 2-45); HBL 22-3 in 9.2 overs (Mohammad Ilyas 3-13).

At Southend Club, Karachi: KARACHI WHITES 158 in 69.4 overs (Omair Bin Yousuf 92 not out; Kashif Bhatti 4-48, Ahmed Jamal 3-36, Awais Zia 2-13); SSGCL 81-2 in 17 overs (Awais Zia 36 not out; Waqar Anwar 2-36).

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2018