Karachi Blues, after skipper Mohammad Sami won the toss and opted to bat first, were bowled out for a modest 215 before fighting back dramatically to reduce the star-studded Habib Bank side to 95-7 by close of play with season's top wicket-taker Tanvir Ahmed grabbing five for 52 in a superb 13-over spell from the Pavilion End.
Younis Khan, the former Pakistan captain, had a mixed first day in his first outing since early November when he surprised everyone by taking a break from the game.
Younis, still recovering from dehydration caused by an upset stomach a few days ago, was involved in four dismissals during Karachi Blues' first innings despite not looking fully fit.
He held a sharp chance at second slip to send Khalid Latif back before ending Shahzeb Hasan's breezy 69-ball knock with a more athletic effort when he sprinted from mid-on to his left to claim a well-judged catch.
Shahzeb batted in the Twenty20 mould — a strength that made the right-handed opener a surprise inclusion in the Pakistan squad that won the world championship title in England last June — rather than a first-class game to clobber 15 boundaries in scoring 67.
Upcoming youngsters Asad Shafiq and Ali Asad failed. Ali, however, was desperately unlucky to be adjudged caught behind by veteran umpire Kaukab Butt when TV replays confirmed the ball only brushing the left-hander's thigh guard.
Younis then transformed the match firmly in Habib Bank's grasp with two strikes off successive deliveries in his very first of gentle seamers. Wajihuddin (29) was taken in the slips and Tariq Haroon missed a straight ball before Javed Mansoor arrived to deny Younis a fairytale hat-trick.
Asim Kamal, the Test discard, easily played the most compact innings of the day while making 34 off 54 deliveries until an attempt to clear the on-side region resulted in a leading edge which was gleefully accepted by Saleem Elahi at short cover.
When it appeared Karachi Blues would fold up under less than 200, Tanvir used the long handle well to slam four boundaries in a 28-ball 20 as he and Azam Hussain churned out a priceless last-wicket stand of 31 before Tanvir offered a diving return catch to Test reject Abdul Rehman on the stroke of tea break.
Rehman like Younis was not 100 per cent well at all and despite running high temperature snared four for 52 in 17.3 overs to emerge as the leading wicket-taker. Fellow left-armer Aslam Qureshi took 2-32 while Younis had 2-8 in four overs.
After the interval it was Habib Bank's turn to face the music. As Sami, who is waiting for his travel formalities to be completed before he flies out to Australia to reinforce the Pakistan pace-bowling department, bowled intelligently but without any success, it was Tanvir who benefited most.
Tanvir continued his dream season by getting rid of Saleem Elahi and Aftab Khan to set the stage for Younis to make an immediate impact.
Tragically, the star batsman's 14-ball stay — for seven runs — was cut short by international umpire Zameer Haider's poor judgment when Tariq Haroon bowled a sharp in-cutter that struck Younis quite high and would have easily gone over the stumps.
Kamran Hussain went for a duck while slashing straight to gulley where Shaharyar Ghani, substituting for Asim who sustained a finger injury, held a sharp catch. Tariq also dismissed Habib Bank captain Hasan Raza cheaply via a neat catch at second slip by Asad Shafiq.
Tanvir took two more wickets before Taufiq Umar, who had watched his partners go one after another from the onset, Irfan Fazil saw out an extended final session. Taufiq, the former Test opener who has so far made 36 off 77 balls, now remains the last hope as the bankers bid for a fighting total.
Scoreboard
KARACHI BLUES (1st Innings)
Shahzeb Hasan c Younis b Rehman 67
Khalid Latif c Younis b Irfan 13
Asad Shafiq lbw b Sarmad 0
Ali Asad c Humayun b Rehman 12
Asim Kamal c Saleem b Aslam 34
Wajihuddin c Taufiq b Younis 29
Tariq Haroon lbw b Younis 0
Javed Mansoor c Rehman b Aslam 4
M. Sami c Humayun b Rehman 9
Tanvir Ahmed c and b Rehman 20
Azam Hussain not out 9
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-3, NB-14) 18
TOTAL (all out, 55.3 overs) 215
FALL OF WKTS 1-153, 2-68, 3-102, 4-107, 5-158, 6-158, 7-172, 8-179, 9-189.
BOWLING Irfan Fazil 8-2-47-1 (8nb); Sarmad Anwar 9-0-47-1 (4nb); Kamran Hussain 7-1-25-0; Abdul Rehman 17.3-3-52-4 (2nb); Aslam Qureshi 10-1-32-2; Younis Khan 4-1-8-2.
HABIB BANK (1st Innings)
Taufiq Umar not out 36
Saleem Elahi lbw b Tanvir 8
Aftab Khan c Javed b Tanvir 14
Younis Khan lbw b Tariq 7
Kamran Hussain c sub b Tanvir 0
Hasan Raza c Asad Shafiq b Tariq 1
Abdul Rehman b Tanvir 6
Humayun Farhat c sub b Tanvir 0
Irfan Fazil not out 4
EXTRAS (LB-3, NB-16) 19
TOTAL (for seven wkts, 27 overs) 95
FALL OF WKTS 1-27, 2-58, 3-72, 4-73, 5-75, 6-83, 7-86.
TO BAT Aslam Qureshi, Sarmad Anwar.
BOWLING (to-date) Mohammad Sami 10-1-35-0 (8nb); Tanvir Ahmed 13-2-51-5 (4nb); Tariq Haroon 4-0-6-2.
UMPIRES Zameer Haider and Kaukab Butt.
TV UMPIRE Iqbal Butt.
MATCH REFEREE Anwer Khan.
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