KARACHI: After opening day of the fourth-round matches in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy first-class tournament saw four batsmen starring with centuries, another three joined the bandwagon on Sunday as bowlers found the going on day two.

Sindh were expecting to restrict Southern Punjab after the visitors, who were 303-5 at stumps on Saturday, reached 314-7 soon after play started at the UBL Sports Complex. But they suffered thereafter as Aamir Yamin and Mohammad Irfan Jr joined hands to share a whirlwind partnership of 206 in 170 minutes with both completing centuries.

The biggest beneficiary of batsmen making merry in the championship was Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Ashfaq Ahmed who not only became the first player this season to chalk up a third century but also reached his career-best score as leaders Central Punjab found the going tough at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.

Northern, currently struggling at bottom of the piles, posted their highest their total as they made 450 against Balochistan at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Aamir, the out-of-favour Pakistan pace-bowling all-rounder who has figures in four One-day Internationals and two T20 Internationals, and the Nankana Sahib-born Irfan took a liking for another docile track in Karachi as they punished a tiring Sindh bowling at will.

After losing Adnan Akmal (44) and Bilawal Bhatti (1) early in the morning, Southern Punjab extended Sindh’s misery through Aamir and Irfan, who was the dominant partner of the two before he got run out for an energetic 101 with 104-ball innings containing eight boundaries and a six each off pace duo of Sohail Khan and Tabish Khan. It was just his second hundred in first-class cricket.

Aamir, who was last man out, eventually fell to the occasional left-arm spin Fawad Alam after having struck 15 fours and six sixes in his 189-ball knock of 142 — the 29-year-old’s fourth first-class ton — in a stay of 255 minutes.

Off-spinner Waleed Ahmed failed to add to his Saturday’s tally of wickets as he returned figures of 2-174 in 40 overs. The same misfortune was experienced by Tabish (2-101 in 31 overs) while Fawad took 2-63 in 18.2 overs and Sohail 2-102 in 26 overs.

After early tea was taken at 2:24pm, Sindh launched their reply solidly with the in-form Pakistan opener Abid Ali leading the way with an unbeaten 42 in 168 minutes as the diminutive right-hander hit six boundaries from 116 deliveries, while adding 79 with Khurram Manzoor, who was cleaned by Test paceman Rahat Ali for an 81-ball 36.

Sindh were 90-1 in 36 overs bowled before stumps were drawn for the day.

Balochistan staged a good comeback against Northern on the back of a second-wicket stand of 110 in 159 minutes between Imran Butt and Abubakar Khan after seamer Amad Butt claimed three quick wickets at the backend of the home team’s first innings.

Fast bowler Haris Rauf had Azeem Ghumman caught behind by Rohail Nazir for five before Imran and Abubakar resurrected the innings with watchful batting but Balochistan suffered a setback just before close of play when Abubakar was bowled spinner Nauman Ali for 50 (106 balls, seven fours).

Balochistan skipper Imran Farhat (1) and opener Imran Butt (58 off 128 balls, nine boundaries) saw out the final few minutes to steer the visiting team to 119-2.

Earlier, Faizan Riaz converted his overnight score of 113 into 141 (207 balls, 18 fours and three sixes) as Northern added 135 before losing their five wickets. He was dismissed by Yasir Shah as the Test leg-spinner yet again had to grind for wickets. This time, he claimed 2-119 in 29 overs, while Amad captured 3-57.

Central Punjab were in real strife at 45-2 on a truncated day of action in Abbottabad after hosts Khyber Pakhtunkhwa declared their first innings at 484-5.

The star of the day, undoubtedly, was Ashfaq as the 32-year-old Charsadda-born right-hander scored 173 after started the day on 98 in a team tally of 305-2.

Skipper Mohammad Rizwan departed after adding 17 to his Saturday’s score of 111. The wicket-keeper/batsman’s 128 off 229 balls included 16 boundaries, while his partnership with Ashfaq yielded 250 runs in 306 minutes.

But Ashfaq, who has already made 106 and 113 — against Northern and Sindh, respectively — carried on soon after reaching a seventh hundred of his 49-match first-class career. Slow left-armer Zafar Gohar finally sent Ashfaq back after 173, 323-ball innings in 476 minutes that was laced with 22 fours and two sixes.

Adil Amin contributed an unbeaten 58 off 99 balls, six fours while putting on 113 for the fifth wicket with Ashfaq.

Central Punjab then lost Salman Butt, who hit up 237 in the innings win over Balochistan, for second-ball duck as the former Pakistan captain was caught behind by Rizwan off discarded Pakistan left-arm paceman Junaid Khan. Mohammad Saad also fell for 19 but captain Azhar Ali (22) survived until stumps.

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

Fourth round:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: SOUTHERN PUNJAB 546 in 140.2 overs (Aamir Yamin 142, Shan Masood 118, Mohammad Irfan Jr 101, Sohaib Maqsood 57, Adnan Akmal 44, Imran Rafiq 39; Fawad Alam 2-63, Tabish Khan 2-101, Sohail Khan 2-102, Waleed Ahmed 2-174); SINDH 90-1 in 36 overs (Abid Ali 42 not out, Khurram Manzoor 36).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: NORTHERN 450 in 105.4 overs (Faizan Riaz 141, Haider Ali 133, Ali Sarfraz 50, Umar Amin 34, Hammad Azam 24, Nauman Ali 21; Amad Butt 3-57, Mohammad Asghar 2-62, Taj Wali 2-108, Yasir Shah 2-119); BALOCHISTAN 119-2 in 42 overs (Imran Butt 58 not out, Abubakar Khan 50).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 484-5 declared in 133 overs (Ashfaq Ahmed 173, Mohammad Rizwan 128, Adil Amin 58 not out, Israrullah 43, Sahibzada Farhan 37; Zafar Gohar 2-85); CENTRAL PUNJAB 45-2 in 14.1 overs (Azhar Ali 22 not out).

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2019