KARACHI: Centuries from Pakistan Test batter Azhar Ali and Tayyab Tahir put Central Punjab in a strong position against Balochistan by the close of the second day’s play of their Quaid-i-Azam Trophy second-round match at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

It was Azhar’s 44th first-class ton as the right hander smashed 107 with the help of 11 fours and a six. Tayyab, on the other hand, struck his second century on a trot.

Tayyab, unbeaten at 118, will start the third day for Central Punjab with young all-rounder Qasim Akram at 59 not out. The pair will look to add up to the side’s 232-run lead over Balochistan, who were bundled out for 185 on the first day.

At Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium, Northern were 129-2 in reply of Sindh’s 457-8. Umar Amin top-scored with an unbeaten 60 after he added 92 runs for the second wicket with Mohammad Huraira, who missed a half-century by eight runs.

Sindh captain Saud Shakeel, who struck his 12th first-class hundred on Monday, converted his overnight 112 into 158. He batted for 319 balls and hit 14 fours and two sixes.

Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed scored his second half-century in as many matches with an unbeaten 70.

In Abbotabad, Umar Siddiq’s 13th first-class century lifted Southern Punjab to 308 at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium in response to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s first innings score of 240.

Southern Punjab began the day at a precarious 48-3 before Umar hit 19 fours in his 199-ball innings. Salman Ali Agha added 64 for Southern Punjab.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Ihsanullah, Arshadullah and Arshad Iqbal shared seven wickets between them. The defending champions were 4-1 by the close of the day’s play and have a trail of 64 to surmount.

Brief scores:

Central Punjab lead by 232 runs against Balochistan

BALOCHISTAN 185 in 47.2 overs (Hussain Talat 43, Asad Shafiq 34; Ahmed Daniyal 3-41, Mohammad Ali 3-49); CENTRAL PUNJAB 417-4 in 114.5 overs (Tayyab Tahir 118 not out, Azhar Ali 107; Akif Javed 2-98)

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa trail by 64 runs against Southern Punjab

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 240 in 69.2 overs (Waqar Ahmed 134 not out, Sahibzada Farhan 44; Mohammad Ilyas 4-76, Ahmed Bashir 3-31) and 4-1 in 1.1 overs

SOUTHERN PUNJAB 308 in 91.2 overs (Umar Siddiq 112, Salman Ali Agha 64; Ihsanullah 3-45, Arshadullah 2-73)

Northern trail by 328 runs against Sindh

SINDH 457-8 in 138.5 overs (Saud Shakeel 158, Sarfaraz Ahmed 70 not out; Mubasir Khan 4-140); NORTHERN 129-2 in 41 overs (Umar Amin 60 not out, Mohammad Huraira 42; Mohammad Asghar 2-56)

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2022