RAWALPINDI, Jan 8: Rawalpindi were facing certain defeat after Peshawar obtained a big first-innings lead of 167 runs on the third day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Gold League match at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Monday.

By stumps the hosts had struggled to 127 for six in their second innings despite a fighting knock of 87 by opener Babar Naeem. They still need 40 runs to make Peshawar bat again with only four wickets standing.

Ex-Test paceman Fazle Akbar set about Peshawar’s victory charge with three wickets in his opening spell, including that of Naveed Qureshi for a duck. The former Test right-hander top-scored in the first innings with 97.

Asif Mahmood bagged a pair in the match while falling to Riaz Afridi in both innings. Former Test off-spinner and Peshawar captain Arshad Khan took two for 37 as Babar was the only bright spot for Rawalpindi. He hit 13 fours and one six during his 142-ball knock.

Earlier, Shoaib Khan completed a fine century after resuming at 88. He was eventually out for 131, a 291-ball innings that spanned seven hours and 18 minutes and included 11 boundaries.

Scoreboard

RAWALPINDI (1st Innings) 230 (Naveed Qureshi 97; Riaz Afridi 5-69).

PESHAWAR (1st Innings, overnight 285-6):

Riffatullah Mohmand c Asif b Yasir 24

Janisar Khan lbw b Najaf 0

Riaz Afridi c Najaf b Rizwan 37

Shoaib Khan c Babar b Rizwan 131

Akhtar Sarfraz c Usman b Rizwan 20

Wajahatullah Wasti c and b Najaf 34

Aftab Khan lbw b Sohail 18

Zulfiqar Jan c Wasim b Najaf 50

Arshad Khan b Rizwan 8

Shakeel-ur-Rehman not out 15

Fazle Akbar c Sajid b Najaf 2

EXTRAS (B-8, LB-13, W-6, NB-31) 58

TOTAL (all out, 121 overs) 397

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-54, 3-73, 4-111, 5-180, 6-221, 7-365, 8-379, 9-380.

BOWLING: Yasir Arafat 10-1-45-1 (1w); Najaf Shah 33-3-118-4 (3nb, 2w); Rizwan Akbar 28-6-82-4 (10nb, 1w); Sohail Tanvir 31-4-96-1 (18nb, 2w); Babar Naeem 19-5-35-0.

RAWALPINDI (2nd Innings):

Babar Naeem c and b Arshad 87

Mohammad Wasim lbw b Fazle 8

Usman Saeed c Zulfiqar b Fazle 6

Naveed Qureshi c Zulfiqar b Fazle 0

Pervez Aziz not out 12

Rizwan Akbar b Arshad 0

Asif Mahmood lbw b Riaz 0

Yasir Arafat not out 8

EXTRAS (W-1, NB-5) 6

TOTAL (for six wkts, 45 overs) 127

FALL OF WKTS: 1-17, 2-31, 3-39, 4-117, 5-117, 6-118.

BOWLING (to-date): Fazle Akbar 12-6-11-3 (1w); Riaz Afridi 11-1-56-1; Arshad Khan 14.5-4-37-2; Janisar Khan 6-2-20-0 (5nb); Shakeel-ur-Rehman 1.1-0-3-0.—Agencies