KARACHI, Oct 16: Faisal Iqbal could not have chosen a more appropriate moment to press his claims for possible national recall with an unblemished century as Karachi overcame a stuttering start to reach 248 for five against Pakistan XI on the opening day of the second trial match on Sunday.
Faisal, the 23-year-old nephew of the legendary Javed Miandad, was batting on 101 after Karachi had been invited to bat first by Pakistan XI skipper Younis Khan on a perfect track at the National Stadium.
Another youngster to show exemplary temperament was Khalid Latif, the former Pakistan Under-19 captain who was unfortunate to miss out on a century by six runs.
Faisal, who struck 13 boundaries on his way to a ninth first-class century, must have impressed the chairman of selectors Wasim Bari and Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, with a series of delightful strokes during his 189-minute stay in the middle.
The right-hander, who had figured in 10 Tests and 17 ODIs, was easily the dominant partner in the fifth-wicket partnership of 167 with the watchful Khalid.
The pair had come together after Karachi had been reduced to 81 for four when skipper Hasan Raza, the scorer of a masterly unbeaten century in the first match last week, literally threw away his wicket with an outrageous shot selection.
The first session belonged to Pakistan XI as the Karachiites struggled to 64 for three with Mohammad Asif bowling a superb opening spell during which he was robbed of a certain hat trick.
Asif, armed with the Duke brand English ball which is being surprisingly used here instead of the more accustomed Kookaburra brand, disposed of Faisal Athar and Naumanullah with the second and third deliveries of his sixth over.
Asim Kamal was reprieved off the very next ball when Younis, of all people, spilled one of those slip catches which nine times out of 10 he would have simply pocketed.
But Asim, the left-hander increasingly in danger of losing his Test spot for next month’s series opener against England, failed to cash in as he was taken at first slip by Taufiq Umar off Abdul Razzaq for five.
However, Khalid and Faisal made certain Karachi gave a good account of themselves with their solid partnership. Khalid fell in the penultimate over of the day when he drove uppishly at part-time leg-spin of Imran Farhat and was held at second attempt by Younis in the covers.
Khalid batted two minutes under five-and-a-half hours for his 94 and punctuated his 247-ball knock with 14 boundaries.
There was more drama at the start of the match when Nasimul Ghani, Karachi’s regional development manager, was pressed into service as an umpire when it was revealed that Afzaal Ahmed, the appointed official, was supervising the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match in Multan which also started from Sunday.
Nasim stood at square-leg for six overs before Junaid Ghafoor was rushed to the stadium to partner Salim Badar, who until then had been standing at the bowling end from both ends.
The first of three trial matches was abandoned in Peshawar after the opening day’s play following last Saturday’s devastating earthquake in the northern parts of Pakistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir.
The Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) had already dedicated this fixture to help those unfortunate people by means of collecting donations and other relief goods during the course of the match. Sadly though, just a handful of people turned up at the stadium on Sunday.
Scoreboard
KARACHI (1st Innings):
Faisal Athar c Kamran b Asif 20
Khalid Latif c Younis b Imran 94
Naumanullah c Taufiq b Asif 0
Asim Kamal c Taufiq b Razzaq 5
Hasan Raza lbw b Razzaq 17
Faisal Iqbal not out 101
Aminur Rahman not out 0
EXTRAS (B-2, LB-4, NB-5) 11
TOTAL (for five wkts, 83 overs) 248
FALL OF WKTS: 1-33, 2-33, 3-42, 4-81, 5-248.
TO BAT: Mohammad Sami, Tanvir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Malik Aftab.
BOWLING (to-date): Umar Gul 13-2-53-0; Mohammad Asif 12-2-46-2 (2nb); Abdul Razzaq 9-4-16-2; Arshad Khan 25-8-48-0; Shoaib Malik 15-3-41-0 (3nb); Imran Farhat 4-0-18-1; Younis Khan 5-1-20-0.
PAKISTAN XI: Imran Farhat, Taufiq Umar, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Arshad Khan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif.
UMPIRES: Salim Badar and Junaid Ghafoor.