INSPIRED by a fine century from Khurram Shehzad, Faisalabad strengthened their grip in the Bottom Six Teams final of the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship after reducing Bahawalpur to 136-6 in the last innings of the match at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on Wednesday.
On the penultimate day of the five-day title decider, Bahawalpur found themselves in a big hole after Faisalabad had piled up 390 in their second innings to leave them chasing a daunting 385. On Thursday, Bahawalpur will be hoping that skipper Rehan Rafiq (33) and veteran all-rounder Kamran Hussain (1) pull them out of the mire with still 249 more runs required for victory.
Trailing by only six runs o the first innings, Faisalabad extended their overnight score of 203-4 to 390 before being dismissed in the second innings. Khurram, the 31-year-old right-hander who was batting on 42 on Tuesday evening, duly completed his seventh first-class century before falling to former international Kamran Hussain for 117.
Khurram, who negotiated 188 balls during his 286-minute stay while striking 10 boundaries, was the dominant partner in the game-changing partnership yielding 94 runs for the sixth wicket with Faisalabad skipper Mohammad Salman (37).
Imran Khalid (21) and first-class debutant Bilal Butt (27) further frustrated the Bahawalpur bowlers with useful knocks. Kamran claimed four for 87 in 27 overs with his left-arm medium-pacers, while leg-spinning all-rounder Imranullah Aslam took three for 71 in 18 overs.
If the match ends in a draw Bahawalpur will be declared the champions on the basis of first-innings lead.
Scoreboard
FAISALABAD (1st Innings) 273 (Mohammad Salman 69, Ali Waqas 41; Imranullah Aslam 5-83, Ataullah 2-76). BAHAWALPUR (1st Innings) 279 (Bilal Khilji 131, Faisal Mubashir 33; Samiullah Khan Niazi 5-73, Bilal Butt 2-44). FAISALABAD (2nd Innings, overnight 203-4): Asif Ali c Ansar b Imranullah 22 Moazzam Hayat c Waqas b Ansar 6 M. Shahid c Ansar b Imranullah 55 Ali Waqas c Waqas b Kamran 55 Khurram Shehzad b Kamran 117 Zeeshan Butt lbw b Kamran 18 Mohammad Salman lbw b Kamran 37 Imran Khalid c and b Ansar 21 Bilal Butt b Imranullah 27 Samiullah Niazi st Waqas b Faisal Elahi 16 Faisal Yasin not out 1 EXTRAS (B-8, LB-3, W-1, NB-3) 15 TOTAL (all out, 101.1 overs) 390 FALL OF WKTS: 1-13, 2-62, 3-101, 4-177, 5-209, 6-303, 7-335, 8-366, 9-376. BOWLING: Ataullah 28-3-107-0 (2nb); Ansar Javed 20-1-85-2; Kamran Hussain 27-6-87-4 (1nb); Bilal Khilji 1-0-1-0; Imranullah Aslam 18-2-71-3; Faisal Elahi 6.1-0-19-1; Hamid Ali 1-0-9-0. BAHAWALPUR (2nd Innings): Imranullah Aslam b Bilal 4 Hamid Ali lbw b Bilal 13 Rafay Ahmed b Samiullah 11 Bilal Khilji b Faisal 21 Faisal Mubashir b Imran 12 Rehan Rafiq not out 33 Faisal Elahi b Khurram 27 Kamran Hussain not out 1 EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2, W-1, NB-7) 14 TOTAL (for six wkts, 38 overs) 136 FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-31, 3-31, 4-65, 5-65, 6-135. BOWLING (to-date): Samiullah Khan Niazi 9-2-25-1; Bilal Butt 10-2-52-2 (2nb, 1w); Faisal Yasin 5-1-24-1 (5nb); Imran Khalid 9-3-22-1; Khurram Shehzad 5-2-7-1.
