KARACHI: Khyber Pakhtun­khwa had to wait for more than two months to break their winless streak in the First XI Quaid-e-Azam Trophy when they annihilated Balochistan by an innings and 122 runs at the UBL Sports Complex here on Tuesday to stay in hunt for a place in next month’s final.

The scheduled four-day fixture was done and dusted on day three as Balochistan wicket-keeper/batsman Bismillah Khan — who was the top scorer in both innings — was the last man to be dismissed at 1:37pm to give the unbeaten Khyber Pakhtunkhwa side a thoroughly deserved victory.

By securing 21 points on Wednesday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have moved up the ladder to second spot with a tally of 97 — currently 11 points behind leaders Central Punjab. The result was never in doubt once Balochistan were bowled out a measly 146 in their first innings just before stumps on Tuesday’s second day, while leaving Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a huge lead of 239.

Therefore it was no surprise that stand-in skipper Fakhar Zaman enforced the follow on when play began on the third day. By lunch Balochistan had lost half their side and 57 minutes after lunch they were all out for 117 in just 36 overs.

Barring Bismillah, who hit six boundaries during his fighting 48-ball innings, it was a regular procession of batsmen coming and going. The solitary noteworthy partnership came when Bismillah and Jalat Khan (22) got united to add 52 for the seventh wicket.

Off-spinner Sajid Khan snared four wickets for 45 runs in 11 overs, including that of Bismillah, while Usman Khan Shinwari and Fakhar Zaman shared four wickets between them.

Balochistan’s problems were further compounded when it was revealed after the match that their head coach Arshad Khan has been handed a one-match ban for breaching the PCB’s Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel.

The former Pakistan off-spinner found guilty of committing a level 2 offence under Article 2.21, which relates to conduct that brings the game into disrepute by approaching the umpires on Monday’s first day and passed remarks which were deemed by match officials Farooq Ali Khan and Saqib Khan, as inappropriate and bringing the game into disrepute.

He was subsequently charged on the second day on Tuesday to which the Balochistan coach pleaded not guilty.

The suspension means that Arshad will not be allowed to enter the dressing room or the field of play during the next game, but the Balochistan outfit does has the option of nominating a replacement.

The clash the National Stadium was tantalising poised after Umar Akmal spearhead Central Punjab’s superb comeback with a brilliant century against Sindh. After falling 93 runs behind on the first innings, the visitors reached stumps at 207-2 to lead by 114 runs.

But the situation could have been a real disaster for Central Punjab, who lost captain Ahmed Shehzad for a duck and Mohammad Saad — who was well taken by a diving Sindh skipper Sarfraz Ahmed behind the timbers — in quick successions to upcoming paceman Mohammad Umar.

However, ex-Pakistan skipper Salman Butt and Umar then built a fine stand, which is already worth 185 thus far, to thwart Sindh. Salman — who was visibly in discomfort because of a hand injury — managed to remain unscathed through until stumps to reach 81 from 154 balls with 13 boundaries in almost four hours.

Umar, however, batted in his customary fashion to notch up his first century in the championship. By close of play, the Pakistan right-hander had reached 117 off only 122 deliveries with the help of 16 fours and three sixes.

Earlier, Sindh failed to secure a big lead after resuming the day at 255-4 in response to Central Punjab’s first-innings total of 246. Fawad Alam and Sarfraz both posted half-centuries before the excellent Aizaz Cheema broke their 93-run stand by finding enough gap between bat and pad to bowl Sarfraz for an 84-ball 58 (seven fours).

New-ball partner Waqas Maqsood got rid of the obdurate Fawad for 65 (129 balls, seven fours), while Aizaz swiftly mopped up the tail to end with 5-81 in 25.4 overs, giving the 40=year-old former Pakistan paceman his 30th five-for in first-class cricket. Off-spinner Bilal Asif sent back Umar to finish with 4-73 from 22 overs.

Southern Punjab, meanwhile, were bracing for an anxious final day after being forced to follow only Northern at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi. Well-placed at 149-2 in reply to Northern’s 463-7 declared when play got underway, Southern Punjab collapsed dramatically to be bowled out for 268 as eight wickets went down for the addition of only 116 runs.

Pakistan leg-spinner Shadab Khan was the most successful wicket-taker with 3-33 before taking the only wicket to fall in the second innings as Southern Punjab collected 76-1. They still require another 119 runs to avert innings defeat.

Close of play scores and result on Wednesday (day three of four):

First XI:

Eighth round:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Balochistan by an innings and 122 runs.

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 385 in 114.3 overs (Zohaib Khan 133, Ashfaq Ahmed 54, Usman Khan Shinwari 51, Israrullah 42, Sajid Khan 29; Mohammad Asghar 6-121, Khurram Shehzad 2-87); BALOCHISTAN 146 in 51 overs (Bismillah Khan 35, Hussain Talat 25, Khurram Shehzad 22; Junaid Khan 4-36, Usman Khan Shinwari 3-36) and 117 in 36 overs (Bismillah Khan 40, Jalat Khan 22; Sajid Khan 4-45, Fakhar Zaman 2-2, Usman Khan Shinwari 2-9).

At National Stadium, Karachi: CENTRAL PUNJAB 246 in 94.3 overs (Kamran Akmal 59, Usman Salahuddin 57, Ahmed Shehzad 48, Mohammad Saad 31; Tabish Khan 5-85, Sohail Khan 2-51, Anwar Ali 2-27) and 207-2 in 49.1 overs (Umar Akmal 117 not out, Salman Butt 81 not out: Mohammad Umar 2-42); SINDH 339 in 100.4 overs (Khurram Manzoor 85, Jaahid Ali 72, Fawad Alam 65, Sarfraz Ahmed 58, Sohail Khan 26; Aizaz Cheema 5-81, Bilal Asif 4-73).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: NORTHERN 463-7 declared in 109.4 overs (Hammad Azam 100 not out, Umar Amin 90, Ali Sarfraz 73, Zeeshan Malik 45, Jamal Anwar 44, Faizan Riaz 39, Nauman Ali 37; Mohammad Irfan 5-158); SOUTHERN PUNJAB 268 in 81.5 overs (Umar Siddique 60, Zeeshan Ashraf 57, Adnan Akmal 45, Mohammad Irfan 37, Abdul Rehman Muzammil 21; Shadab Khan 3-33, Waqas Ahmed 2-53) and 76-1 in 27 overs (Umar Siddique 39 not out, Zeeshan Ashraf 21 not out).

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2019