Overcautious CP set up fascinating finale after KP collapse

Published January 5, 2021
Central Punjab’s defence of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is far from over after the reigning champions’ overcautious approach against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday set the stage for a thrilling finale to the decider here at the National Stadium. — Photo courtesy PCB
Central Punjab’s defence of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is far from over after the reigning champions’ overcautious approach against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday set the stage for a thrilling finale to the decider here at the National Stadium. — Photo courtesy PCB

KARACHI: Central Punjab’s defence of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is far from over after the reigning champions’ overcautious approach against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday set the stage for a thrilling finale to the decider here at the National Stadium.

The equation for both sides is quite simple — either Central Punjab score the remaining 216 runs to retain their crown or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa dethrone them by grabbing the final eight wickets of the domestic first-class season — on Tuesday’s last day of what has been an absorbing contest thus far with pendulum repeatedly swinging from one team to the other.

After bowling out Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for 312 in the morning session of the penultimate day, Central Punjab began their chase for the 356-run target — and plodded their way to 140-2 in 70 overs by close of play — with an ultra-defensive mindset.

Having struggled throughout the championship for a decent partnership upfront — their best being 92 against Southern Punjab at the UBL Sports Complex in late November — as Mohammad Akhlaq and Ali Zaryab ate up as many as 21.2 overs to score 35 for the first wicket in 97 minutes.

Spinner Sajid put the left-handed Ali (10 off 66 balls) out of his misery when the opener offered no shot to a delivery that straightened to trap plumb in front of the stumps. Ali’s opening partners Akhlaq — spent no less than 202 minutes over his 145-ball knock of 48 (six boundaries) after having deputized for regular wicket-keeper Ali Shan during Khyber Pakht­un­khwa’s second innings which lasted 431 minutes.

A lapse in concentration contributed to Akhlaq’s dismissal shortly after tea as the right-hander attempted to break free but only got succeeding in nicking paceman Arshad Iqbal to Israrullah who brought off a sharp catch at first slip.

Test discard Usman Salahuddin, who added 54 with Akhlaq, has been the driving force on the batting front for Central Punjab, and not for the first time in recent weeks, the right-handed passed the test with flying colours. By stumps Usman had reached his second half-century of the match — and eighth in the tournament — as crossed 900 first-class runs for the season before ending the day on 51 from 147 deliveries with just three fours during a stay of 194 minutes.

Usman’s partner Moha­mmad Saad scored a slightly better rate while making a 63-ball 27 in 89 minutes during their stand of 51 so far.

Earlier in the day, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa failed to put the match beyond Central Punjab’s reach as they lost their last five wickets for 58 runs after resuming at 243-5. Kamran Ghulam’s record-breaking season with the bat came to an abrupt halt when he slashed a sharp catch to substitute Tayyab Tahir at point after adding only four to his overnight 108. Kamran broke a 36-year-old record on Sunday when he surpassed Saadat Ali’s tally of 1,217 runs in a single Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, and when he was dismissed on Monday, he had amassed 1249 runs at 65.45 with five centuries and as many half-centuries.

Captain Khalid Usman had the major share in the runs made by his side on day four as the 34-year-old all-rounder hit up 53 with his 73-ball innings featuring seven boun­daries until Qasim Akram held a good catch at deep square-leg off Central Punjab skipper Hasan Ali, who had bowled a total of 17 no-balls across both innings. Waqas Maqsood added two more wickets to finish with 4-77 and a match bag of 7-136 — the most for either side in this final.

Scoreboard

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA (1st Innings) 300 (Kamran Ghulam 76, Adil Amin 75, Israrullah 61, Zohaib Khan 30; Hasan Ali 4-62, Waqas Maqsood 3-59).

CENTRAL PUNJAB (1st Innings) 257-9 declared (Usman Salahuddin 60, Qasim Akram 60 not out, Saad Nasim 55; Irfanullah Shah 4-73, Khalid Usman 3-32).

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA (2nd Innings, overnight 243-5):

Fakhar Zaman c M. Saad b Waqas 4

Israrullah st Akhlaq b Qasim 63

Zohaib Khan c Akhlaq b Bilawal 5

Kamran Ghulam c sub b Bilawal 108

Adil Amin c Hasan b Waqas 34

Rehan Afridi run out 1

Khalid Usman c Qasim b Hasan 53

Sajid Khan c Usman b Waqas 8

Sameen Gul run out 5

Arshad Iqbal c sub b Waqas 2

Irfanullah Shah not out 3

EXTRAS (B-10, LB-7, W-1, NB-8) 26

TOTAL (all out, 93.5 overs) 312

FALL OF WKTS: 1-24, 2-33, 3-121, 4-204, 5-206, 6-254, 7-275, 8-303, 9-307

BOWLING: Waqas Maqsood

23.5-7-77-4; Hasan Ali 21-4-67-1 (6nb); Bilawal Iqbal 22-7-57-2; Qasim Akram 9-0-40-1 (1w); Ahmed Safi Abdullah 16-5-43-0 (2nb); Mohammad Saad 2-0-11-0.

CENTRAL PUNJAB (2nd Innings):

M. Akhlaq c Israrullah b Arshad 48

Ali Zaryab lbw b Sajid 10

Usman Salahuddin not out 51

Mohammad Saad not out 27

Extras (b-2, lb-1, nb-1) 4

Total (for two wkts, 70 overs) 140

FALL OF WKTS: 1-35, 2-89.

BOWLING (to-date): Irfanullah Shah 12-5-20-0; Sameen Gul 11-3-30-0 (1nb); Sajid Khan 15-2-35-1; Khalid Usman 11-6-11-0; Arshad Iqbal

17-5-33-1; Kamran Ghulam 3-1-6-0; Fakhar Zaman 1-0-2-0.

Published in Dawn, Jannuary 5th, 2021

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