LAHORE: Opener Saad Baig struck maiden first-class century to help Karachi Blues take control of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy second-round match against Multan at the Marghzar Cricket Ground in Islamabad on Monday.

The second day of the action at different venues produced five centuries and two five-wicket hauls.

Saad, who struck 154 off 196 balls with the help of 21 fours and a six, put on a marathon 262-run second-wicket partnership with Omair bin Yousuf (137, 16 fours, one six) as Karachi Blues gained a 173-run first-innings lead over Multan. Omair scored his 13th first-class century.

Multan’s Faisal Akram — who bagged his fifth first-class five-for — removed both centurions as Blues slid from 321-2 to 433 all out. Faisal finished with 5-113 while Arafat Minhas and Kashif Ali took two wickets each. In, Multan were 12 for no loss in their first innings at stumps.

At the Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur finished the day at 124-3 still trailing Islamabad by 417 runs. Earlier, Islamabad declared their first innings at 541-6 after resuming from 344-5 overnight.

Mohammad Hammad — who turned his 80 not out to 144 hitting 19 fours — along with wicket-keeper/batter Rizwan Ali (101 not out, eight fours, two sixes) put on 199 for the sixth wicket for Islamabad.

Lahore Whites’ Ali Zaryab struck his ninth first-class century (106 not out) to take Lahore Whites to 232-2 in reply to Abbottabad’s first-innings total of 365 all out at the Diamond Cricket Ground, Islamabad.

Ali stitched a 72-run opening stand with Abid Ali (41) and then shared an unbeaten 145-run third-wicket partnership with Hussain Talat (68) as Lahore Whites closed in on Abbottabad’s total.

Earlier, Abbottabad started their innings at overnight score of 273-7.

No. 8 batter Khalid Usman smashed 78 while adding 74 with Israr Hussain (29) for the last wicket. Mohammad Rameez Jr claimed six wickets.

Peshawar lead Fata by 19 runs with nine wickets in hand in their second innings as they were 59-1 when the stumps were drawn at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium in Abbottabad.

Earlier, Fata were dismissed for 311 as they managed a 40-run first innings lead after resuming from 60-0. Opener Mohammad Farooq top-scored with a 65-ball 90 hitting 15 fours and three sixes as Fata slid from 215-3 to 311 all out.

Sialkot’s pacer Mohammad Ali bagged 5-47, his 11th first-class five-for, as they dismissed Faisalabad for 255 at the Imran Khan Stadium in Peshawar. Faisalabad could only add 52 runs to their overnight total while losing five wickets.

In reply, Sialkot reached 189-5 by close of play — 66 behind Faisalabad — courtesy half-century from opener Azan Awais (65).

Scores in brief (day two of four):

Lahore Whites vs Abbottabad at Diamond Cricket Ground, Islamabad:

ABBOTTABAD 365 in 109.2 overs (Khalid Usman 78, Shahzaib Khan 74, Yasir Khan 56, Fakhar Zaman 53; Mohammad Rameez Jr 6-144, Saad Nasim 3-23); LAHORE WHITES 232-2 in 59 overs (Ali Zaryab 106 not out, Hussain Talat 68 not out)

Islamabad vs Bahawalpur at Shoaib Akhtar Stadium, Rawalpindi:

ISLAMABAD 541-6 decl in 137.3 overs (Mohammad Hammad Khan 172, Sarmad Bhatti 144, Rizwan Ali 101 not out, Raja Hamza Waheed 60; Gulfam Aziz 2-88, Mohammad Azab 2-91); BAHAWALPUR 124-3 in 38.3 overs (Mohammad Faizan Zafar 39, Saad Khan 28 not out; Kaleem Dil 2-26)

Peshawar vs Fata at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad:

PESHAWAR 271 in 63 overs (Israrullah 91, Iftikhar Ahmed 78, Niaz Khan 47; Sameen Gul 2-69, Akif Javed 2-70, Shahid Aziz 2-70) and 59-1 in 19 overs (Israrullah 29 not out); FATA 311 in 68.2 overs (Mohammad Farooq 90, Rehan Afridi 41, Mohammad Wasim Khan 41, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi 32; Iftikhar Ahmed 3-19, Abuzar 3-95, Mohammad Amir Khan 2-56)

Faisalabad vs Sialkot at Imran Khan Stadium, Peshawar:

FAISALABAD 255 in 89.5 overs (Atiq-ur-Rehman 81, Faham-ul-Haq 51, Muhammad Irfan Khan 42; Mohammad Ali 5-47, Athar Mehmood 3-74); SIALKOT 189-5 in 55 overs (Azan Awais 65, Mohammad Huraira 34; Mudasar Zunair 2-51)

Karachi Blues vs Multan at Marghzar Cricket Ground, Islamabad:

MULTAN 260 in 70.5 overs (Arafat Minhas 77, Waqar Hussain 50, Bismillah Khan 41; Danish Aziz 2-4, Rameez Aziz 2-13, Saqib Khan 2-51, Mohammad Umar 2-63) and 12-0 in three overs; KARACHI BLUES 433 in 89.1 overs (Saad Baig 154, Omair Bin Yousuf 137, Saqib Khan 54; Faisal Akram 5-113, Kashif Ali 2-54, Arafat Minhas 2-85).

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2025