KARACHI: Karachi Dolphins closed in on an emphatic win after Multan Tigers slumped to 177-7 in their second innings of the Gold League fixture in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship on Wednesday.

The Dolphins continued in the same as Tuesday’s first day at the Multan Cricket Stadium when they first dismissed the home side for 46 — the lowest total this season — and then posting 307-4. The visitors eventually collected 450 to hold a huge lead of 404 on the first innings.

Barring Babar Rehman (5) and Shahzaib Ahmed Khan (8), it was a consistent display from the Dolphins with Babar Hussain Agha (50 off 82 balls, six fours and one six) becoming the fourth half-centurion in the innings.

Paceman Majid Ali captured four wickets for 134 runs in 26 overs.

The Tigers began their second innings very shakily when the first three wickets fell for 12 runs. But unlike the first innings, they managed to make some amends as skipper Gulraiz Sadaf (45 not out) and Abdul Rehman Muzammil (66) delayed the inevitable until Thursday’s third day.

Peshawar Panthers, in contrast to the Tigers’ troubles, recovered brilliantly from 55-4 to post 325-9 in reply to Lahore Lions’ 221 all out at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

The architects were Jamaluddin and skipper Akbar Badshah who completed centuries while putting on 183 for the fifth wicket. Jamaluddin’s 116 off 189 balls included just one four and as many as seven sixes (according to the scorecard) while Akbar is still unbeaten with a solid 101 (217 balls, nine boundaries).

Earlier, the Lions’ lost their remaining three wickets in the space of five balls for one run as left-arm paceman Taj Wali returned career-best figures of seven for 63 in 25.5 overs.

Islamabad Leopards were struggling at 189-6 after bowling out arch-rivals Rawalpindi Rams for 351 at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad.

Sami Aslam made up for his three successive failures in the championship with a painstaking 162 off 351 balls (499 minutes) as National Bank were all out for 399 against Wapda at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

The upcoming left-handed opener, who made 1 and 1 against Karachi Dolphins ad 7 against Lahore Lions in the previous two matches, hit 19 boundaries and one six.

Wapda reached 121-3 in their reply with the in-form opener Iftikhar Ahmed making 56.

United Bank had made 181-5 after SNGPL added 80 to their overnight tally of 209-6 at the Marghazar Cricket Ground in Islamabad. Ali Asad was holding the bankers’ together with 79 when stumps were drawn for the day.

Port Qasim Authority (PQA) amassed 508 against ZTBL after resuming their overnight innings at 248-2 at the National Cricket Ground. The salient feature being that all batsmen managed to reach double figures.

Khurram Manzoor led the way with 139 (364 balls, 18 fours) and put on 141 for the third wicket with Umar Amin (58). Of the rest, Shahzaib Hasan hit 50, Mohammad Waqas 14, Khalid Latif 10, Kamran Younis 50, Daniyal Ahsan 33, Mohammad Sami 27 and Abdur Rauf 18 before , Azam Hussain (29 not out) and Sohail Khan (46) added 70 for the last wicket.

ZTBL then faced 11.3 overs to collect 46-0 by stumps.

Close of play scores on Wednesday (day two of four):

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: MULTAN TIGERS 46 in 13.5 overs (Kashif Naved 14 not out; Mir Hamza 6-16, Adeel Malik 4-31) and 177-7 in 55 overs (Abdul Rehman Muzammil 66, Gulraiz Sadaf 45; Mir Hamza 2-37, Shahzaib Ahmed Khan 2-46, Adeel Malik 2-55); KARACHI DOLPHINS 450 in 103.1 overs (Rameez Raja 82, Mohammad Waqas 68, Yasir Mushtaq 62, Babar Hussain Agha 50, Saad Ali 39, Fazal Subhan 37, Adeel Malik 33; Majid Ali 4-134, Hasnain Bukhari 2-71, Mohammad Irfan 2-88, Haziq Habibullah 2-102).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: LAHORE LIONS 221 in 85.5 overs (Saad Nasim 71, Raza Ali Dar 51, Mohammad Farhan 32 not out; Taj Wali 7-63, Azizullah 2-47); PESHAWAR PANTHERS 325-9 in 85 overs (Jamaluddin 116, Akbar Badshah 101 not out; Bilawal 4-81, Hasan Dar 2-28).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: NATIONAL BANK 399 in 126 overs (Sami Aslam 162, Fawad Alam 69, Nasir Jamshed 53, Wahab Riaz 31; Azhar Attari 4-87, Waqas Maqsood 2-93); WAPDA 121-3 in 44 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 56).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: RAWALPINDI RAMS 351 in 90.4 overs (Naved Malik 80, Usman Saeed 78, Yasim Murtaza 61, Zahid Mansoor 42; Zohaib Ahmed 3-91, Hamza Nadeem 2-49, Imad Wasim 2-52, Shehzad Azam Rana 2-97); ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS 189-6 in 70 overs (Sarmad Bhatti 66 not out, Imad Wasim 53 not out, Umar Kayani 38; Haseeb Azam 4-57, Rashid Latif 2-23).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: SNGPL 289-6 in 108.2 overs (Khurram Shehzad 89, Ali Waqas 66, Imran Butt 37; Prince Abbas 5-81, Ali Zahid 3-56); UNITED BANK 181-5 in 54 overs (Ali Asad 79 not out; Samiullah Khan Niazi 2-32, Ahmed Safi Abdullah 2-34).

At National Cricket Ground, Islamabad: PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 508 in 150.1 overs (Khurram Manzoor 139, Umar Amin 58, Shahzaib Hasan 50, Kamran Younis 50, Sohail Khan 46, Daniyal Ahsan 33; Zohaib Khan 3-103, Rao Iftikhar 2-68, Kashif Daud 2-79); ZTBL 46-0 in 11.3 overs.

Published in Dawn, November 20th , 2014