LAHORE: Impressive fast bowling by Mir Hamza and Shahnawaz Dahani and opener Saim Ayub’s record century put Karachi Whites in a commanding position against Faisalabad Region on the third day of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday.

After dismissing Faisalabad for a paltry 124 to claim a massive 419-run first-innings lead, Karachi Whites ended the day at 238 for five, to extend the lead to 657.

Resuming their first innings from the overnight score of 76-4 with Muhammad Irfan Khan (12) and Ali Shan (nine) at the crease, Faisalabad innings kept on crumbling as Dahani and Hamza excelled with the leather.

Wicket-keeper Shan was the first to go, as he was trapped in front by Dahani on an inswinging delivery at the total of 75. Soon Dahani dismissed Faisalabad captain Faheem Ashraf (0) who only lasted three balls before being caught by Khurram Manzoor in the first slip while attempting a drive. Ali Asfand (five) was cleaned up by Dahani on an absolute beauty while Khurram Shahzad (three) tried to guide the ball towards third man but was caught by Omair bin Yousuf in the gully region off Hamza.

Mohammad Irfan Khan’s 32-run resistance was ended by Hamza as the batter while trying to hook was caught by Dahani on fine leg as Faisalabad descended to 99-9. Hamza wrapped up the innings when last man Arshad Iqbal (13) was caught by Noman Ali at mid-on.

Left-armer Hamza registered his 29th first-class five-wicket haul while Dahani took his career-best figures of 4-50.

The Sarfraz Ahmed-captained Karachi Whites, who chose not to enforce follow-on after taking the huge lead, started their second innings disastrously when opener Khurram Manzoor got a first-ball duck as paceman Arshad on the opening ball of the innings deceived the right-hander with a superb delivery on the off-stump.

Saim (109) along with his southpaw partner Shan Masood added a quickfire 78 for the second wicket before the latter was run out by Asfand for a belligerent 26-ball 51 featuring right fours.

The 21-year-old Saim, who has represented Pakistan’s senior team in T20 Internationals, continued to excel with the bat as he smashed a magnificent record-making century in the history of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

After losing one-down batter Omair (zero) who was caught by Shan off pacer Mohammad Ali at 86, the young Saim added 121 runs with Pakistan Test veteran Asad Shafiq (60 not out), and in the process completed his century off 158 balls. The opener, who struck 12 fours and a six during his 179-ball knock, became the first batter to score a double century and a century in a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy decider.

The 109-run knock, which was the third first-class century for the player in a short career comprising 14 matches, followed a marathon 203 in the first innings of the ongoing match.

Sarfraz (one not out) accompanied Asad when stumps were drawn for the day.

SCOREBOARD

KARACHI WHITES (1st Innings) 543

FAISLABAD REGION (1st Innings, overnight 76-4):

Muhammad Hurraira b Hamza 17

Taimoor Sultan c Ghazi b Dahani 0

Ali Waqas lbw b Hamza 27

Irfan Khan c Dahani b Hamza 32

Asif Ali c Sarfraz b Ghulam 3

Ali Shan lbw b Dahani 9

Faheem Ashraf c Khurram b Dahani 0

Ali Asfand b Dahani 5

Khurram Shahzad c Omair b Hamza 3

Mohammad Ali not out 6

Arshad Iqbal c Noman b Hamza 13

EXTRAS (LB-6, NB-2, W-1) 9

TOTAL (all out, 35.5 overs) 124

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-7 (Taimoor), 2-43 (Hurraira), 3-52 (Ali), 4-62 (Asif), 5-77 (A. Shan), 6-77 (Faheem), 7-87 (A. Asfand), 8-104 (Khurram), 9-105 (Irfan)

BOWLING: Hamza 14.5-2-44-5 (1w, 1nb), Dahani 14-2-50-4, Ghulam 6-1-20-1 (1nb), Noman 1-0-4-0

KARACHI WHITES (2nd Innings):

Khurram Manzoor b Khurram 0

Saim Ayub c A. Asfand b Faheem 109

Shan Masood run out 51

Omair Bin Yousuf c A. Shan b M. Ali 0

Asad Shafiq not out 60

Ghazi Ghouri c Irfan b Arshad 8

Sarfraz Ahmed not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-9) 9

TOTAL (for five wickets, 65 overs) 238

STILL TO BAT: Mir Hamza, Shahnawaz Dahani, Ghulam Mudassar, Noman Ali

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Khurram), 2-78 (Shan), 3-86 (Omair), 4-207 (Saim), 5-233 (Ghazi)

BOWLING: Khurram 9-3-23-1, Faheem 9-0-58-1, M. Ali 13-5-37-1, Arshad 9-2-25-1, Ali 20-1-65-0, Irfan 5-0-21-0

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2023