KARACHI: Pakistan discarded pacer Mohammad Musa Khan inspired a brilliant comeback by Northern in their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Unlike day one, Thursday’s second day saw the bowlers hit the straps in a big way as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa seemingly lost ground after surrendering the remaining five wickets for the addition of 97 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

However, the first-innings tally of 337 created panic in the Northern ranks when four wickets fell for only 82 after young Musa had claimed his maiden five-for in first-class cricket before finishing with 5-78 in 22.1 overs.

However, Northern recovered superbly on the back of an unfinished partnership of 97 between Faizan Riaz (57) and Mubasir Khan (59) to close the day at 179-4.

Balochistan had the honour of piling up the first 400-plus total of the new season as they extended the overnight 253-4 to 402 all out against Sindh at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium. Wicket-keeper/batter Bismillah Khan was the main man with a stroke-filed knock of 74 (10 boundaries, one six).

And although Sharjeel Khan departed early for 13, Khurram Manzoor and Saad Khan carried their side to 91-1 when stumps were drawn for the day.

Meanwhile, in the Punjab derby at the Multan Cricket Stadium in the city of saints, Central were on top after reducing Southern to 130-4 by stumps.

Earlier, Central opener Abid Ali added 26 more runs before being dismissed for 158 as his team posted 384 all out in their first innings.

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

First round:

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 337 in 105.1 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 71, Iftikhar Ahmed 51, Israrullah 50, Khalid Usman 39, Sajid Khan 32, Rehan Afridi 26; Mohammad Musa Khan 5-78, Munir Riaz 2-45); NORTHERN 179-4 in 55 overs (Mubasir Khan 59 not out, Faizan Riaz 57 not out, Nasir Nawaz 25; Imran Khan 2-39).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: BALOCHISTAN 402 in 133 overs (Imran Butt 104, Imam-ul-Haq 97, Bismillah Khan 74, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai 63, Ayaz Tasawwar 30; Mir Hamza 2-32, Mohammad Hasnain 2-47, Mohammad Asghar 2-111, Ashiq Ali 2-129); SINDH 91-1 in 36.3 overs (Saad Khan 43 not out, Khurram Manzoor 33 not out).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: CENTRAL PUNJAB 384 in 115.3 overs (Abid Ali 158, Ahmed Shehzad 63, Hussain Talat 52, Junaid Ali 27, Azhar Ali 25; Ali Usman 4-99, Aamir Yamin 2-60, Mohammad Ilyas 2-86); SOUTHERN PUNJAB 130-4 in 46.3 overs (Tayyab Tahir 56 not out, Imran Rafiq 23, Naved Yasin 21; Zafar Gohar 2-56).

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2021