KARACHI, Feb 18: Karachi Whites put themselves in a commanding position after restricting Sargodha to a measly 169 in their first innings on the opening day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-I clash at KCCA Stadium here Monday.
The Group-I leaders then recovered from the early loss of diminutive makeshift opener Mohammad Masroor to reach stumps at 69 for one.
Elegant right-hander Saeed bin Nasir, who is enjoying an excellent season, looked in superb touch by stroking an unbeaten 35 off 55 deliveries with four lovely boundaries. Giving him company was Whites captain Ghulam Ali, who is batting with 20.
Earlier, Sargodha never really recovered from the shock of losing the first three wickets with just five runs on the board.
Pacer Tanvir Ahmed pierced through Mohammad Ali’s defences in his opening over for a duck. Imran Javed, the all-rounder who bowls brisk medium-pacers, then got of rid Mohammad Hafeez (1) and Sohail Maqbool (3).
Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, season’s leading scorer, struck five boundaries in making an attractive 35 off 69 balls. The Test reject batted for 84 minutes.
The only redeeming feature for Sargodha proved to be debutant Mohammad Kashif. The left-hander excelled with a fine knock of 53 off 84 deliveries, scored out of 70 while he was at the crease.
Kashif, who hit four fours and one six in a stay of 94 minutes, put on 59 for the seventh-wicket with off-spinner Saboor Ahmed (22) before holed out to mid-off off Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria.
Kaneria and Tanvir finished with three wickets each while Imran and off-spinner Irfanuddin shared the remaining four.
SARGODHA (1st Innings):
Mohammad Hafeez c Farhan b Imran 1
Mohammad Ali b Tanvir 0
Sohail Maqbool lbw b Imran 3
Misbah-ul-Haq b Irfan 35
Atiq Ahmed lbw b Kaneria 18
Aziz-ur-Rehman c Tanvir b Kaneria 1
Mohammad Kashif c Imran b Kaneria 53
Saboor Ahmed b Tanvir 22
Tariq Munir c Farhan b Tanvir 6
Umair Hussain not out 22
Mohammad Sarfraz c Kaneria b Irfan 3
EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-4) 5
TOTAL (all out, 64.4 overs) 169
FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-1, 3-5, 4-59, 5-61, 6-72, 7-131, 8-141, 9-148.
BOWLING: Tanvir Ahmed 19-2-63-3 (3nb); Imran Javed 10-1-17-2 (1nb); Irfanuddin 13.4-4-32-2; Danish Kaneria 22-7-56-3.
KARACHI WHITES (1st Innings):
Mohammad Masroor c Atiq b Umair 2
Ghulam Ali not out 20
Saeed bin Nasir not out 35
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-1, W-1, NB-9) 12
TOTAL (for one wkt, 18 overs) 69
FALL OF WKT: 1-10.
TO BAT: Hasan Raza, Faisal Iqbal, Imran Javed, Arif Mahmood, Farhan Iqbal, Tanvir Ahmed, Irfanuddin, Danish Kaneria.
BOWLING (to-date): Mohammad Sarfraz 7-0-27-0 (1nb, 1w); Umair Hussain 6-0-27-1 (8nb); Saboor Ahmed 2-1-4-0; Tariq Munir 2-0-5-0; Mohammad Hafeez 1-0-4-0.
UMPIRES: Iftikhar Malik and Zamir Haider.
MATCH REFEREE: Fahimuddin Alvi.