KARACHI: Karachi Blues staged a splendid comeback through openers, Haris Ali Khan and Khurram Manzoor, after an unbeaten Umair Khan century enabled UBL obtain a substantial 174-run lead in the day-night Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship tie on Sunday.
Haris (67 off 105 balls, nine fours) and the experienced Khurram (58 off 106, eight fours) survived 35 overs under the night sky at the floodlit National Stadium to help Karachi Blues reach stumps on day two of the four-day fixture at 133 without loss in their second innings.
Earlier it was Umair who held the centre stage by converting his overnight score of 32 into a patient 101 — the left-hander’s ninth first-class hundred — as the bankers posted 285 all out in response to the paltry 111 made by the regional side on Saturday’s opening day of the championship.
The 31-year-old Kohat-born opener carried his bat while stroking 14 boundaries during his 272-ball that spanned 10 minutes under seven hours.
Resuming at 114-3, UBL went through a hard-fought first session in which just 47 runs were scored in 28 overs while losing three wickets with Umar escaping several close shaves. But he hung on gamely to put last season’s runners-up in control.
Wickets continued to tumble like ninepins on the lively UBL Sports Complex track where PIA squandered their opportunity of putting Karachi Whites under pressure.
Following a dozen wickets falling on day one, Sunday saw 16 batsmen from both teams get out with PIA seamer Ali Imran Pasha returning career-best figures of 7-20 in 13.3 overs that sent Karachi Whites crashing from 122-2 to 160 all out after the overnight pair of Behram Khan (68 not out) and Faraz Ali (51) put on 105 for the third wicket.
But the seven-run advantage PIA held soon put their camp in sombre mood as Karachi Whites hit back to grab eight second-innings wickets for 143 runs after Shahzar Mohammad (38) and Kamran Sajid (36) shared an opening stand of 97. Fast bowler Tabish Khan followed up his six wickets on Saturday with another bag of three as did left-arm spinner Azam Hussain.
Lahore Whites suffered a dramatic collapse as they were dismissed for 258 after resuming at 235-6 against NBP, who then reached 193-5 in their reply at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.
Imran Farhat hit 112 (209 balls, 18 boundaries) — the Pakistan discard’s 30th first-class hundred — as HBL declared at 462-9 before Peshawar responded spiritedly to gather 102-1 at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.
Champions SNGPL rode on Adnan Akmal’s blistering undefeated 114 (116 balls, 16 fours) to pile up 493-7 against Fata at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. The regional side made a defiant 241-5 thanks to Khushdil Shah’s 80 not out.
KRL were sitting pretty after bowling out Rawalpindi for 114 to earn a lead of 61 at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. They extended that lead to 179 by closing the day at 118-4.
Lahore Blues were in tatters at 104-8 after Wapda made 330 at the LCCA Ground in Lahore. Gangling Pakistan seamer Mohammad Irfan has so far taken four wickets for 28 runs in 10.5 overs.
Shahid Yousuf struck 102 (174 balls, 13 fours) to enable Islamabad amass 417 all out against SSGC at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital. Ahmed Jamal took 6-86. SSGC openers Awais Zia (54) and Ali Asad (35) guided their team to 95-0 at stumps.
Close of play scores on Sunday (day two of four):
First round:
Pool ‘A’:
At National Stadium, Karachi (day/night fixture): KARACHI BLUES 111 in 44.3 overs (Mohammad Waqas 33, Haris Ali Khan 20, Khalid Latif 22; Hammad Azam 3-14, Yasim Murtaza 3-18, Rumman Raees Khan 2-23) and 133-0 in 35 overs (Haris Ali Khan 67 not out, Khurram Manzoor 58 not out); UBL 285 in 93.4 overs (Umair Khan 111 not out, Shan Masood 46, Yasim Murtaza 29, Rumman Raees Khan 28; Mohammad Sami 3-70, Adeel Malik 3-83, Abdul Ameer 2-43).
At LCCA Ground, Lahore: WAPDA 330 in 93 overs (Kamran Akmal 115, Aamir Sajjad 78, Ayaz Tasawwar 52 not out, Salman Butt 31; Bilawal Iqbal 4-71, Waqas Ahmed 3-77); LAHORE BLUES 104-8 in 45.5 overs (Raza Ali Dar 45 not out; Mohammad Irfan 4-28).
At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ISLAMABAD 417 in 139.5 overs (Shahid Yousuf 102, Abid Ali 101, Afaq Raheem 61, Zohaib Ahmed 58, Naeem Anjum 34; Ahmed Jamal 6-86, Mohammad Irfan 2-64, Zafar Gohar 2-83); SSGC 95-0 in 32 overs (Awais Zia 54 not out, Ali Asad 35 not out).
At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: HBL 462-9 declared in 139 overs (Imran Farhat 112, Zohaib Khan 75, Aftab Khan 51, Usman Shinwari 50 not out, Imam-ul-Haq 49, Azeem Ghumman 41, Ahmed Shehzad 21; Shahzaib Ahmed 3-156, Akbar Badshah 2-44, Mohammad Imran Khan 2-55); PESHAWAR 102-1 in 23 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 55 not out, Israrullah 36 not out).
Pool ‘B’:
At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: PIA 167 in 53 overs (Shahid Ilyas 71, Faisal Iqbal 32; Tabish Khan 6-47) and 142-8 in 47 overs (Shahzar Mohammad 38, Kamran Sajid 36; Tabish Khan 3-23, Azam Hussain 3-41, Faraz Ali 2-9); KARACHI WHITES 160 in 50.3 overs (Behram Khan 68 not out, Faraz Ali 51; Ali Imran Pasha 7-20, Najaf Shah 3-42).
At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: LAHORE WHITES 258 in 94.2 overs (Sami Aslam 140, Mohammad Waqas 31; Afaq Ahmed 4-40, Bilal Asif 2-74); NBP 193-5 in 75 overs (Usman Salahuddin 53 not out, Rameez Raja 50, Qaiser Abbas 42 not out. Naved Yasin 24; Qaiser Ashraf 2-25).
At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: SNGPL 493-7 declared in 113 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 127, Adnan Akmal 114 not out Mohammad Hafeez 68, Hussain Talat 55, Imran Khalid 40, Khurram Shehzad 39, Taufiq Umar 28; Irfanullah Shah 3-93, Ahmed Asfandyar 2-70); FATA 241-5 in 58 overs (Khushdil Shah 80 not out, Mohammad Naeem 40, Fawad Khan 34, Rehan Afridi 31, Haroon Sadaqat 27; Imran Khalid 3-38).
At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: KRL 175 in 67.1 overs (Zulfiqar Jan 46, Abdul Rehman Muzammil 43; Abid Hasan 4-40, Sohail Tanvir 3-18, Ataullah 2-30) and 118-4 in 41 overs (Saeed Anwar Jr 30; Ataullah 2-; RAWALPINDI 114 in 48 overs (Yasir Hameed 28, Shoaib Nasir 26; Sadaf Hussain 4-50, Yasir Ali 3-28, Mohammad Abbas 3-28).
Published in Dawn October 3rd, 2016