KARACHI: Sindh were battling to take first-innings lead after Northern contained the home side to 247-5 at the halfway stage of the four-day First XI Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture at the National Stadium on Tuesday.

Replying to Northern’s 408 all out after taking the final two wickets for the addition of 12 runs, Sindh soon ran into trouble when left-arm speedster Sadaf Hussain had former Test opener Khurram Manzoor (3) and the left-handed Ramiz Aziz (0) caught behind by wicket-keeper Jamal Anwar.

In real strife at 13-2, Shahzar Mohammad marked his return to first-class cricket after exactly one year with a resourceful half-century on his 28th birthday. Son of ex-Pakistan opener Shoaib Mohammad and grandson of the legendary Hanif Mohammad scored 74 from 128 deliveries in 201 minutes while striking 10 boundaries.

Saad Ali (23) partnered Shahzar in a 52-run partnership but was his stay was cut short when Hammad Azam ran out the out-of-favour Test left-hander. Sindh then suffered a crippling blow with the score on 110 with the dismissal of a well-set Shahzar, trapped lbw by Northern captain and slow left-armer Nauman Ali.

The onus was on former Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed to produce a worthwhile innings but having reached 22 (35 balls, three fours), the wicket-keeper/batsman tried to smash Nauman on the onside but only succeeded in getting caught at short midwicket by Shoaib Minhas Ahmed, after adding 62 with Fawad Alam for the fifth wicket in 54 minutes.

However, Fawad found a trusted partner in Anwar Ali as the two Pakistan discards combined to put on 75 in 68 minutes without being separated. While Anwar was the main run-getter with a 71-ball 41 (five fours and one six), Fawad held his ground to make 75 from 113 balls (nine boundaries) in 185 minutes.

Hammad, earlier, added nine more runs before falling to spinner Hassaan Khan for an 81-ball 59 (six fours and three sixes).

For the second straight day play at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore was curtailed by fading light as 71.5 overs out of the quota of 90 were delivered. In that time Balochistan put themselves in a position of strength.

Resuming at 232-2, the visitors first posted a commanding total of 450 with the pair of Imran Butt and skipper Imran Farhat carrying their overnight partnership to 167 before the captain got out for 87 (155 balls, 11 fours).

But Imran Butt continued his excellent form to surge past 650 runs for the season. The 23-year-old right-handed opener, batting at No.3 in this fixture, notched up his second hundred in the championship before ex-Pakistan paceman Aizaz Cheema had him caught behind for 137 (225 balls, 16 boundaries).

The 40-year-old Aizaz, who is playing in the First XI event due to the absence of first-choice pacemen, grabbed 5-100 — the 37th five-for of his 136-match first-class career — from 31.1 overs.

Central Punjab, who currently have a 25-point cushion at the top of the six-team standings, faced an awkward eight-over period during they slipped to 28-2.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were on top against Southern Punjab in Abbottabad thanks to fine bowling of tall paceman Ahmed Jamal.

Resuming at 243-5, the visitors were bowled out for 338 in their first innings at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium with Sohaib Maqsood scoring 59. Ahmed doubled his Monday’s tally to end up with six for 93 in 30.3 overs.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in reply, went to stumps at 160-2 with in-form Ashfaq Ahmed batting on 81 (133 balls, 11 fours and one six) after sharing a second-wicket stand of 73 with skipper Sahibzada Farhan (47). Adil Amin (21) is the other batsman at the crease in the unfinished stand of 79 with Ashfaq, who will be hoping to score his fourth hundred this season.

Close of scores on Tuesday (day two of four):

First XI:

Seventh round:

At National Stadium, Karachi: NORTHERN 408 in 93.2 overs (Faizan Riaz 211, Ali Sarfraz 60, Hammad Azam 59, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 49; Sohail Khan 3-89, Mir Hamza 3-92, Hassaan Khan 2-49, Tabish Khan 2-84); SINDH 247-5 in 73 overs (Fawad Alam 75 not out, Shahzar Mohammad 74, Anwar Ali 41 not out, Saad Ali 23, Sarfraz Ahmed 22; Sadaf Hussain 2-40, Nauman Ali 2-51).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: BALOCHISTAN 450 in 124.1 overs (Imran Butt 137, Imran Farhat 87, Azeem Ghumman 72, Awais Zia 44, Taimur Khan 37, Hussain Talat 24, Umar Gul 20; Aizaz Cheema 5-100, Mohammad Ali 3-72); CENTRAL PUNJAB 28-2 in 8 overs.

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: SOUTHERN PUNJAB 338 in 100.3 overs (Umar Siddique 88, Sohaib Maqsood 57, Agha Salman 45Sami Aslam 38, Zeeshan Ashraf 25; Ahmed Jamal 6-93, Junaid Khan 2-89); KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 160-2 in 41 overs (Ashfaq Ahmed 81 not out, Sahibzada Farhan 47, Adil Amin 21 not out).

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2019