KARACHI: Karachi Blues, boosted by Akbar-ur-Rehman’s monumental maiden double century, piled on the pressure on Lahore Ravi on the penultimate day of their four-day Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship fixture at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Sunday.

Akbar, who resumed at 116 in the Group-I leaders’ overnight tally of 298-4, easily surpassed his previous best first-class score of 145 until he was out for 225 — the highest individual score in the current championship — as his team finished with a decisive 220-run lead on the first innings by totalling 481.

The right-handed Akbar’s 353-ball knock in a stay of 477 minutes included 22 boundaries and a brace of sixes.

The Ravians’ off-spinner Adnan Rasool claimed five for 133 in 47 overs. The hosts reached 95-2 in their second innings, leaving them still requiring 125 runs to make Karachi Blues bat again. Skipper Imran Farhat, who scored 127 in the first innings, made a 64-ball 57 with nine fours and one six before falling to slow left-armer Azam Hussain.

The match between Sialkot and Quetta at the LCCA Ground in Lahore (not Gujrat’s Zahoor Elahi Stadium as mentioned earlier) was intriguingly poised after Sialkot secured a slim seven-run lead by dismissing Quetta were all out for 225 in their first innings.

Sialkot then lost six wickets in making 193 in their second innings to lead by exactly 200 runs with veteran Mohammad Ayub Dogar batting on 55. Skipper Shoaib Malik scored 39 while adding 84 for the fourth wicket.

Rawalpindi opted against enforcing the follow on after bowling out Abbottabad for 146 to earn a massive 352-run lead at the Gohati Cricket Ground in Swabi. The visitors went to stumps at 141-3 in their second innings to lead by 493 with Umar Amin contributing an unbeaten 58, while taking his first-class season aggregate to 983 — he amassed 767 runs for Port Qasim Authority in the inaugural edition of the President’s Trophy.

Faisal need another 130 to defeat Hyderabad after reaching 80-5 in their second at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Mirpur (and not Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium as mentioned earlier).

Asad Ali, the paceman who toured India with Pakistan for the Twenty20 series last month, captured 6-53 as Hyderabad were all out 142 in their second innings. The 24-year-old finished with match figures of 11 for 107 in 36.5 overs.

Karachi Whites hit back strongly to put themselves in winning position against Bahawalpur at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan. The Whites, who were 178-5 on Saturday evening, ended up just 11 runs behind Bahawalpur’s first-innings total by collecting 351 with wicket-keeper/batsman Owais Ahmed Rehmani scoring a maiden century. Owais, remained undefeated with 146 (299 balls, 18 fours and one six), added 86 for the seventh wicket captain Mohammad Sami (49).

Bahawalpur then nosedived to 51-5 with four of the wickets snared by slow left-armer Faraz Ahmed Khan for 15 runs in seven overs.

After falling 76 runs behind on the first innings against Islamabad at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar, hosts Peshawar reached stumps on day two at 179-2 with Israrullah (91) and Nawaz Ahmed (58) involved in an unbroken partnership of 142.

Earlier, Islamabad’s last four wickets fell for the addition of 59 runs to the overnight total of 120-6.

Close of play scores on Sunday (day three of four): Group-I: At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; LAHORE RAVI 261 in 81.4 overs (Imran Farhat 127, Ali Manzoor 40; Anwar Ali 3-44, Azam Hussain 3-58, Tabish Khan 2-60) and 95-2 in 25 overs (Imran Farhat 57); KARACHI BLUES 481 in 139.2 overs (Akbar-ur-Rehman 225, Fakhar Zaman 70, Tariq Haroon 54, Rameez Aziz 36; Adnan Rasool 5-133, Asif Ashfaq 3-94).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: SIALKOT 232 in 86.3 overs (Shoaib Malik 77, Faisal Khan 69; Najaf Shah 5-62, Arun Lal 2-52, Jalat Khan 2-60) and 193-6 in 67 overs (Mohammad Ayub Dogar 55 not out, Shoaib Malik 39, Faisal Khan 33, Zahidullah 25; Hammal Wahab 2-21); QUETTA 225 in 87.1 overs (Mohibullah 73, Bismillah Khan 63; Nayyar Abbas 4-70, Umaid Asif 3-47).

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (day two): PESHAWAR 103 in 34.3 overs (Nawaz Ahmed 53; Rao Iftikhar 5-28, Shehzad Azam Rana 2-23) and 179-2 in 56 overs (Israrullah 91 not out, Nawaz Ahmed 58 not out; Nasrullah Khan 2-39); ISLAMABAD 179 in 69.5 overs (Fahad Iqbal 44, Imad Wasim 39, Rao Iftikhar 33 not out, Shan Masood 25; Afaq Ahmed 3-12, Zohaib Khan 3-32, Umar Farooq 3-73).

Group-II: At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan; BAHAWALPUR 362 in 109.1 overs (Kamran Hussain 139, Rehan Rafiq 74, Usman Tariq 60; Atif Maqbool 5-113, Mohammad Sami 3-64) and 51-5 in 30 overs (Faraz Ahmed Khan 4-15); KARACHI WHITES 351 in 102 overs (Owais Ahmed Rehmani 146 not out, Mohammad Sami 49, Fawad Alam 47, Asif Zakir 28; Ansar Javed 3-67, Kamran Hussain 2-58, Mohammad Mudassar 2-83).

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur: HYDERABAD 254 in 75.5 overs (Lal Kumar 64, Sharjeel Khan 63, Aqeel Anjum 40, Rizwan Ahmed 30; Asad Ali 5-54, Zeeshanullah 3-53) and 142 in 39.5 overs (Aqeel Anjum 38, Sharjeel Khan 35; Asad Ali 6-53, Naseer Akram 2-24, Samiullah Khan Niazi 2-55); FAISALABAD 187 in 80.2 overs (Naved Latif 61, Ali Waqas 36, Zeeshan Butt 36; Rehan Riaz 3-26, Mir Ali Talpur 2-14, Zahid Mahmood 2-48, Nasir Awais 2-52) and 80-5 in 33 overs (Rehan Riaz 2-24).

At Gohati Cricket Ground, Swabi: RAWALPINDI 498-9 declared (Umar Waheed 183, Hammad Azam 72, Awais Zia 66, Adnan Mufti 59, Zahid Mansoor 34; Ahmed Jamal 3-87, Khalid Usman 2-64, Yasir Shah 2-169) and 141-3 in 33 overs (Umar Amin 58 not out, Mohammad Nawaz 34 not out; Aziz-ur-Rehman 3-32); ABBOTTABAD 146 in 52.2 overs (Adnan Raees 49, Yasir Hameed 35; Hammad Azam 4-39, Saad Altaf 4-59, Haseeb Azam 2-37).