KARACHI, Nov 2: Fine seam bowling by Kamran Hussain has put Balochistan in sight of victory in the RBS Pentangular Cup match despite a rearguard action put by defending champions Sindh at the National Stadium here on Sunday.

Trailing by 236 runs on the first innings after that inexplicable first-day collapse on Friday, Sindh fought hard with their backs to the wall on the penultimate day of the match.

When bad stopped play — which turned out to be exact replica of Saturday’s situation — with 5.2 overs still left in the day’s play, Sindh had advanced to 364 for eight after resuming their second innings at the overnight score of 24 for no wicket.

Balochistan made early inroads through Kamran who scalped Khurram Manzoor, Naumanullah and Faisal Iqbal in quick successions. Khurram literally threw away his wicket when an attempted hook landed straight in Usman Tariq’s lap at square leg while Naumanullah and Faisal both edged catches to wicket-keeper Gulraiz Sadaf.

Khalid Latif, now joined by Fawad Alam, held the innings together in another fine knock as he struck 10 fours and a six in his 104-ball 78 in a stay of almost three hours before he cut Azharullah to Shoaib Khan at second slip.

Fawad, meanwhile, was looking good with some exquisite strokes, but with the arrival of skipper Shahid Afridi in the middle, the diminutive left-hander adopted a careful approach.

Afridi, as usual, was not going to change his tempo and proceeded to blast a hurricane 81 as he and Fawad (68, eight fours) put on 127 in two hours. The cavalier Afridi pulled pacer Mohammad Irshad for a massive six over midwicket before slicing Azharullah over point for another six.

Altogether Afridi’s 73-ball blitz contained 10 fours and those two sixes until he perished while trying to hit Azharullah across the line and was easily taken at mid-on by former Karachi team-mate Saeed bin Nasir.

Shortly afterwards Fawad also departed when he unwisely chose to cut Azharullah. The resultant edge was gleefully accepted by Gulraiz who held four catches during the day.

Rizwan Ahmed and Sarfraz Ahmed then put together a crucial partnership, worth 79 runs, until Kamran got rid of both of them soon after Balochistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq claimed the second new ball.

Rizwan was trapped in front for 28 while Sarfraz, the gritty wicket-keeper/batsman, was caught behind for an attractive 57. His 70-ball innings included seven hits to the fence.

Kamran finished the day with impressive figures of five for 73, Azharullah took three for 76, but Abdur Rauf was extremely unlucky not to pick a single wicket despite producing unplayable deliveries at times.

The host team head into Monday’s final day with a slender lead of 128 runs with just two wickets standing.

Scoreboard

SINDH (1st Innings) 126 (Naumanullah 47; Azharullah 4-32).

BALOCHISTAN (1st Innings) 362 (Saeed bin Nasir 89, Gulraiz Sadaf 84, Usman Tariq 50; Sohail Khan 4-66, Shahid Afridi 4-113).

SINDH (2nd Innings, overnight 24-0):

Khurram Manzoor c Usman b Kamran 4

Khalid Latif c Shoaib b Azhar 78

Naumanullah c Gulraiz b Kamran 6

Faisal Iqbal c Gulraiz b Kamran 1

Fawad Alam c Gulraiz b Azhar 68

Shahid Afridi c Saeed bin Nasir b Azhar 81

Rizwan Ahmed lbw b Kamran 28

Sarfraz Ahmed c Gulraiz b Kamran 57

Anwar Ali not out 7

Tanvir Ahmed not out 10

EXTRAS (B-6, LB-8, NB-10) 24

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 92.4 overs) 364

FALL OF WKTS: 1-32, 2-38, 3-50, 4-118, 5-245, 6-250, 7-329, 8-348.

BOWLING (to-date): Abdur Rauf 19.4-6-67-0 (5nb); Kamran Hussain 20-2-73-5 (4nb); Azharullah 18-3-76-3; Mohammad Irshad 7-2-30-0 (1nb); Saeed Anwar Jr 19-3-58-0; Usman Tariq 2-0-13-0; Shoaib Khan Jr 6-0-28-0; Misbah-ul-Haq 1-0-5-0.