KARACHI, July 25: A fine unbeaten half-century by Sarfraz Ahmed enabled Zone-VI take command of the A.K. Majeed Memorial KCCA under-19 Inter-zonal cricket tournament final against Zone-V at the KCCA Stadium on Monday. After bowling out Zone-V for a moderate first-innings score of 163, Zone-VI closed the opening day of the three-day match at 102 for one with Sarfraz batting on a boundary-laden 76.

Electing to bat first, Zone-V suffered an early setback when skipper Tariq Murad perished to the third ball of the day for a duck after medium-pacer Anwar Ali trapped him LBW. Fellow opener Wasim Naeem struck four boundaries in making 34, but apart from him only Adnanur Rahman (25), Shaharyar Zafar (21) and Talib Ali (20) managed to make noteworthy contributions.

Anwar finished with superb figures of four for 37 in 12.2 overs. Leg-spinner was also impressive in picking up three for 41 in 13 overs while off-spinner Misbah Khan took two for 37 in 20 overs. Sarfraz then took centre stage as he dominated the opening partnership of 86 with Saad Surkhail (17). The promising batsman struck 13 fours during his 113-ball stand that has so far lasted 130 minutes.

SUMMARISED SCORES:

ZONE-V (1st Innings) 163 in 60.3 overs (Salman Hafeez 36 not out, Wasim Hanif 34, Adnanur Rahman 25, Shaharyar Zafar 21, Talib Ali 20; Anwar Ali 4-37, Shakir Ali 3-41, Misbah Khan 2-37); ZONE-VI (1st Innings) 102-1 in 36 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 76 not out).