KARACHI: Karachi Blues were on verge of their second consecutive victory in the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship when they forced Sialkot to follow on at the National Stadium here on Tuesday.

After extending their overnight first-innings tally of 261-6 to 354, the Blues dismissed the visitors for just 124 in reply with Faisal Khan contributing a gallant 57 (105 balls, eight boundaries).

The man responsible for making life miserable for the Sialkot batsmen was 29-year-old all-rounder Akbar-ur-Rehman who returned career-best analysis of four for 19 in 10 overs with his medium-pacers.

Batting a second time when the Blues skipper Faisal Iqbal enforced the follow on, Sialkot found themselves reeling at 18-3 with two of the wickets captured by fast bowler Tabish Khan.

Earlier, tailender Azam Hussain, who is more renowned for his slow left-armers, struck his maiden first-class half century by smashing 60 from 57 balls with the aid of nine fours, while batting at No 10. Tanvir Ahmed also crossed the 50-mark as he scored 52 (83 balls, eight boundaries) before Misbah Khan was joined by Azam in a rollicking ninth-wicket partnership of 82.

Test spinner Abdur Rehman, playing his second game after serving a 12-week drugs ban, claimed one more wicket on day two to finish with four for 127 in 47 overs.

The Karachi Whites-Rawalpindi fixture at the NBP Sports Complex was also heading for an early finish after the visiting side struggled to 121-5 in their second innings at stumps on the second day to lead by only 89 runs.Umar Amin remained Rawalpindi’s only hope of setting the hosts a challenging fourth-innings chase. The left-hander had progressed to 43 by close of play in a watchful 64-ball knock featuring six fours and one six.

Once again the tormentor was off-spinner Atif Maqbool who followed his 5-62 in the first innings with three for 25 in eight overs.

The Whites, earlier, earned a handy 32-run lead by reaching 185 in response to the visitors’ first-innings total of 153. Wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed, anxious to impress the national selectors to merit inclusion for the upcoming tour of South Africa, was the leading run-getter with a 54-ball 38 that included eight hits to the fence.

Skipper Mohammad Sami (25) and Adeel Malik (23) played a key role as they added 47 after the Whites were reduced to 138-8.

Sadaf Hussain, the 23-year-old left-arm paceman, claimed four more wickets on Tuesday to end up with another fine return of six for 52 in 18.2 overs.

Meanwhile, opening day’s play in remaining four third-round fixtures on Tuesday was badly disrupted by current spell of bitterly conditions in the Punjab region.

Faisalabad, put into bat by Lahore Shalimar skipper Usman Salahuddin, reached 93-3 in 47 overs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. At the adjacent LCCA Ground, Lahore Ravi made a solid start as they closed at 146-1 after Quetta captain Taimur Ali elected to field first after winning the toss.

At the Multan Cricket Stadium, Peshawar managed 113-1 in 26.3 overs after being asked to bat first by Multan skipper Naved Yasin with opener Mohammad Fayyaz striking 12 boundaries in his undefeated 67 off 84 balls.

Hosts Bahawalpur stumbled to 43-3 after Abbottabad captain Yasir Hameed had no hesitation in fielding first after winning the toss at the Bahawalpur Cricket Stadium in Bahawalpur. But a stand of 78 between Moinuddin (48) and skipper Rehan Rafiq (43) lifted the score 121-3 in 32 overs without further loss.

Close of play scores on Tuesday:

Group-I:

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi (day two of four): KARACHI BLUES 354 in 107.2 overs (Khurram Manzoor 63, Azam Hussain 60, Mohammad Waqas 53, Tanvir Ahmed 52, Faisal Iqbal 31, Mohammad Hasan 30; Abdur Rehman 4-127, Ali Khan 2-26, Nabeel Malik 2-40); SIALKOT 124 in 47.2 overs (Faisal Khan 57; Akbar-ur-Rehman 4-19, Tanvir Ahmed 2-27, Azam Hussain 2-29) and 18-3 in 6 overs (Tabish Khan 2-8).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore (day one): LAHORE RAVI 146-1 in 38.2 overs (Abid Ali 49 not out, Ikhlaq Butt 49 not out, Irfan Haider 40) v QUETTA.

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan (day one): PESHAWAR 113-1 in 26.3 overs (Mohammad Fayyaz 67 not out) v MULTAN.

Group-II:

At National Stadium, Karachi (day two): RAWALPINDI 153 in 69.5 overs (Sohail Tanvir 37, Umar Amin 36; Atif Maqbool 5-62) and 121-5 in 33 overs (Umar Amin 43 not out, Babar Naeem 37; Atif Maqbool 3-25); KARACHI WHITES 185 in 58.3 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 38, Mohammad Sami 25; Sadaf Hussain 6-52, Haseeb Azam 2-34).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (day one): FAISALABAD 93-3 in 47 overs (Moazzam Hayat 31, Asif Ali 28; Aizaz Cheema 3-34) v LAHORE SHALIMAR.

At Bahawalpur Cricket Stadium, Bahawalpur (day one): BAHAWALPUR 121-3 in 32 overs (Moinuddin 48 not out, Rehan Rafiq 43 not out) v ABBOTTABAD.