KARACHI: Omair bin Yousuf scored a century to help Sindh keep the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy contest against Northern in balance here at the National Stadium on Wednesday.

Omair smashed an unbeaten 101 off 205 balls as Sindh — placed second in the Trophy standings — ended the third day of the ninth round fixture at 345-5 in response to table-toppers Northern’s mammoth first-innings score of 605-8 (decl.).

The right-hander hit 12 fours in his knock and enjoyed support from former Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed, with the duo combining for a 129 runs for the unbroken sixth-wicket stand.

Sarfraz is not out on 62 off 79 balls and has hit eight boundaries in his innings so far. Opener Saim Ayub, with 60, and Sindh skipper Saud Shakil, with 43, were the other notable scorers for the home side.

Last year’s player of the tournament Mubasir Khan took two of the five Sindh wickets with his off-spin bowling for Northern.

At Lahore’s LCCA Ground, Balochistan finished the third day at 219-4 in reply to Central Punjab’s first innings total of 349.

Opener Imran Butt top-scored for Balochistan, smashing 80 off 147 balls with the help of 11 fours. The right-hander was also involved in an opening stand of 115 runs with Pakistan Test opener Imam-ul-Haq, who added 43 to the total.

Youngster Abdul Wahid Bangalzai contributed 43 off 91. Central Punjab’s left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar was their most successful bowler with three wickets.

Balochistan will resume their innings 130-run behind the former champions on Thursday, with Haris Sohail and Hussain Talat on the crease.

The remaining fixture of the round — between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Southern Punjab — was washed out for the third-straight day due to wet outfield at the Abbotabad Cricket Stadium.

Summarised scores:

Sindh trail by 250 runs against Northern

NORTHERN 605-8 (decl.) in 154.5 overs (Mohammad Huraira 173, Umar Amin 140, Hasan Raza 135; Zahid Mehmood 4-185, Abrar Ahmed 3-231); SINDH 345-5 in 97.2 overs (Omair Bin Yousuf 101 not out, Sarfaraz Ahmed 62 not out; Mubasir Khan 2-47)

Balochistan trail by 130 runs against Central Punjab

CENTRAL PUNJAB 349 in 96.5 overs (Qasim Akram 111, Faheem Ashraf 60; Akif Javed 4-97, Kashif Bhatti 2-59); BALOCHISTAN 219-4 in 74 overs (Imran Butt 80, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai 43; Zafar Gohar 3-64)

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2022