KARACHI: The entire second day of the scheduled four-day final of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-II Cricket Tournament between Faisalabad and Karachi Blues in Faisalabad was washed out in Thursday.

According to details available, the Iqbal Stadium took a heavy beating with the outfield waterlogged as rain which started late on Wednesday night continued through to Thursday.

Wednesday’s opening day saw just 45.2 overs of action. After winning and opting to field first, Faisalabad restricted Karachi Blues to 194-7 in their first innings with pace duo of Ehsan Adil (4-51 in 12.2 overs) and left-armer Waqas Maqsood (3-61 in 14 overs) sharing the wickets.

Talented left-hander Saud Shakeel, who is widely tipped to play Test cricket, held the visitors’ faltering innings together with a sedate 120-ball knock of 83 in 201 minutes.

Hasan Mohsin (37) and Akbar-ur-Rehman (27) were the notable run-getters for Karachi Blues, while skipper Asad Shafiq, the star Pakistan Test batsman, for a golden duck when he was trapped leg-before-wicket by Ehsan.

The region winning the title would qualify to play first-class cricket next domestic season.

Summarised scores:

KARACHI BLUES194-7 in 45.2 overs (Saud Shakeel 83, Hasan Mohsin 37, Akbar-ur-Rehman 27; Ehsan Adil 4-51, Waqas Maqsood 3-61) vs FAISALABAD.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2019