LAHORE, April 6: Fine bowling by pacemen Shahid Nazir and Asad Ali put Faisalabad in a position of strength in the Pentangular Cup match against Sialkot at the Qadhafi Stadium on Thursday.

Both Shahid and Asad picked up three wickets each as the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Gold League champions struggled to 208 for seven in reply to Faisalabad’s first-innings score of 408 at stumps on the second day of the four-day fixture.

Sialkot’s hopes of avoiding the follow-on now rest with all-rounder Tahir Mughal, who was batting on 37.

Earlier, Faisalabad skipper Misbahul Haq fell just three runs short of scoring a century after resuming the day on 71.

The sixth-wicket partnership between Misbah and Mohammad Salman (52) was worth 144.

Medium-pacer Asim Butt finished with six for 85 as the last four Faisalabad wickets went down for the addition of only 14 runs.

Scoreboard

FAISALABAD (1st Innings, overnight 354-5):

Mohammad Hafeez c Khalid b Tahir 113

Imran Ali b Sarfraz 14

Asif Hussain c Sarfraz b Asim 52

Mohammad Zahid c Kashif b Tahir 43

Misbahul Haq lbw b Kashif 93

Ijaz Ahmed lbw b Asim 11

Mohammad Salman c Majid b Asim 52

Ahmed Hayat c Khalid b Asim 0

Shahid Nazir not out 7

Samiullah Niazi b Asim 6

Asad Ali lbw b Asim 1

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-6, NB-6) 16

TOTAL (all out, 111.2 overs) 408

FALL OF WKTS: 1-19, 2-124, 3-225, 4-230, 5-256, 6-394, 7-394, 8-394, 9-406.

BOWLING: Sarfraz Ahmed 28-4-83-1 (1nb); Tahir Mughal 25-5-97-2 (1nb); Asim Butt 26.2-5-85-6 (1nb); Kashif Dawood 19-4-75-1 (3nb); Abdur Rahman 13-2-58-0.

SIALKOT (1st Innings):

Inamul Haq c Imran b Ahmed Hayat 21

Atiqur Rahman c Imran b Shahid 22

Hafiz Majid lbw b Asad 16

Mohammad Ayub c Salman b Asad 20

Shahzad Malik c Salman b Shahid 26

Abdur Rahman lbw b Shahid 7

Tahir Mughal not out 37

Hafiz Khalid c Sami b Asad 7

Kashif Dawood not out 18

EXTRAS (B-3, LB-2, W-8, NB-21) 34

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 66 overs) 208

FALL OF WKTS: 1-38, 2-75, 3-83, 4-113, 5-139, 6-146, 7-178

BOWLING: Shahid Nazir 14-1-60-3 (10nb); Samiullah Niazi 17-6-45-0 (1nb, 6w); Asad Ali 17-2-58-3 (10nb, 2w); Ahmed Hayat 8-2-13-1; Mohammad Hafeez 8-4-17-0; Ijaz Ahmed Jr 2-0-10-0.

Opinion

Editorial

Chinese diplomacy
Updated 14 Mar, 2026

Chinese diplomacy

THERE are signs that China is taking a more active role in trying to resolve the issue of cross-border terrorism...
Fragile gains at risk
14 Mar, 2026

Fragile gains at risk

PAKISTAN is confronting an external shock stemming from the US-Israel war on Iran that few of the other affected...
Kidney disease
14 Mar, 2026

Kidney disease

ON World Kidney Day this past Thursday, the Pakistan Medical Association raised the alarm on Pakistan’s...
Delicate balance
Updated 13 Mar, 2026

Delicate balance

PAKISTAN has to maintain a delicate balance where the geopolitics of the US-Israeli aggression against Iran are...
Soaring costs
13 Mar, 2026

Soaring costs

FOR millions of households already grappling with Ramazan inflation, the sharp increase in petrol and diesel prices...
Perilous lines
13 Mar, 2026

Perilous lines

THE law minister’s veiled warning to the media to “exercise caution” and not cross “red lines” while...