KARACHI: The opening day of the Super Eight stage in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship provided a plethora of exciting moments on a Saturday which marked the debut of an 86th first-class ground in Pakistan.

The UBL Sports Complex topped the day one action as Karachi Whites frittered a great chance of seizing early advantage against Sui Southern Gas Company while wickets fell like ninepins.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Sports Complex made its entrance into the top flight of domestic cricket when the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) met their arch-rivals Habib Bank Limited (HBL) in a Group-II game that also brought together chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq and two members of his committee, Tauseef Ahmed, Wasim Haider and Wajahatullah Wasti, at the inauguration ceremony of the venue.

Kamran Akmal, the discarded Pakistan wicket-keeper/batsman, meanwhile produced one of the most daring counterattacks to lift title-aspirants Wapda from a major collapse against champions Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) at the start of the day-night match at the National Stadium.

Put into bat by Karachi Whites skipper Mohammad Hasan, SSGC got off to a solid start to reach lunch at 113-2. Talented opener Zain Abbas caught national selector Tauseef’s eye in the first session with a pleasing array of strokes and compact defence.

The young left-hander doubled his lunch score before being falling to spinner Azan Hussain for a solid 86. On either side of his knock, speedster Tabish Khan bowled Awais Zia for 7 while wicket-keeper Hasan held a brilliant catch when Adil Amin attempted a sweep against Azam after contributing 51 of 61 balls with six fours and one monstrous six straight over long-off.

Asif Zakir was never in his element as he struggled to make 29 before being sensationally held by Hasan low to his right off left-arm paceman Ghulam Murtaza.

SSGC skipper Fawad Alam also had an off-day when the left-hander lobbed a simple catch to Faraz Ali at short midwicket after Zain’s patient 140-ball knock that included 10 boundaries was Azam when the opener went for a half-hearted cut.

Saad Ali pulled off a sharp catch to send back all-rounder Mohammad Irfan for 14 to off-spinner Raza-ul-Hasan just reward for hard work.

Tabish polished off the tail swiftly to complete 50 wickets for the current championship by returning figures of 4-23 in 17.3 overs at a time Inzamam and company had turned up to spend an hour before heading off to the National Stadium.

But all the good work of the bowlers, who restricted SSGC to 240 all out, was wasted dramatically as left-arm seamer Zia-ul-Haq led a fine comeback from SSGC as Karachi Whites stumbled to 37-5 in reply at stumps.

Usman Salahuddin had the honour of striking the first half-century — and possibly the first century as will on Sunday — at the SBP Sports Complex as NBP collected 212-6 after asked to bat first by HBL skipper Abdur Rehman.

With the outfield being on the sluggish side as illustrated by only 16 boundaries being hit all day, NBP lost Ahsan Ali for a first-ball duck before Hamza Paracha and Usman began the rescue operation with a stand of 57.

Hamza perished for 39 but Usman held firm to end the day on 83 with his 219-ball innings featuring seven fours.

The venue was officially inaugurated in the afternoon by Inzamam, who along with other selectors was accompanied by around 150 schoolchildren from the SOS School and SBP sports chief Zaheerul Hassan at a simple ceremony that was highlighted by cutting of a cake.

The second session of the day-night game at the National Stadium was dominated solely by Kamran Akmal who singlehandedly scored 96 of the 131 runs Wapda made after reaching 68-5 during the opening two hours of play once SNGPL skipper Mohammad Hafeez chose o field first after winning the toss.

The pugnacious right-hander’s batting was reminiscent of his sensational century in the final Test of the 2006 series against India after Pakistan had plummeted to 39-6. By the time the dinner interval arrived, Kamran had move serenely to 118 — the seventh time in nine innings he had crossed the 50-run mark in the ongoing competition — to help Wapda reach 199-8 in 53 overs.

Kamran’s tremendous 127-ball display included 18 boundaries after the 34-year-old had arrived at 30-4.

Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) made steady progress to post 251-8 after being put into bat by UBL captain Shan Masood in the other Group-II tie at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad.

Opener Sardar Hasan Raza (53), Zulfiqar Jan (51) and Yasir Ali (45 not out) were chief run-getters for KRL who were 130-6 at one stage.Left-arm paceman Mir Hamza picked up three wickets for 41 runs in another fine performance.

Close of play scores on Saturday (day one of four):

Super Eight stage first round:

Group-I:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: SUI SOUTHERN GAS COMPANY 240 in 74.3 overs (Zain Abbas 86, Adil Amin 51, Asif Zakir 29; Tabish Khan 4-23, Azam Hussain 3-92, Raza-ul-Hasan 2-66); KARACHI WHITES 37-5 in 13 overs (Zia-ul-Haq 2-15).

At National Stadium, Karachi (day-night fixture, dinner break scores): WAPDA 199-8 in 53 overs (Kamran Akmal 118 not out; Bilawal Bhatti 3-60, Mohammad Imran 2-43, Azizullah 2-47) vs SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LIMITED.
Group-II:

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: NATIONAL BANK 212-6 in 90 overs (Usman Salahuddin 83 not out, Hamza Paracha 39, Naved Sarwar 31, Faizan Khan 26; Abdur Rehman 2-49) vs HABIB BANK.

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES 251-8 in 86 overs (Sardar Hasan Raza 53, Zulfiqar Jan 51, Yasir Ali 45 not out, Saeed Anwar Jr 23; Mir Hamza 3-41, Hammad Azam 2-35, Sadaif Mehdi 2-52) vs UNITED BANK.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2016