RAWALPINDI, Jan 20: Fine bowling by Yasir Arafat gave Rawalpindi a hand first-innings lead of 100 runs over defending champions Sialkot on the third day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Gold League at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Yasir, a right-arm paceman, claimed six for 53 as Sialkot were all out for 224 after resuming the day at 27 for two. Young pacer Akhtar Ayub took three for 33

Rawalpindi extended their advantage by finishing at 26 for no wicket in the second innings and held an overall lead of 126.

Scoreboard

RAWALPINDI (1st Innings) 324 (Sohail Tanvir 124, Usman Saeed 88; Kashif Raza 5-62).

SIALKOT (1st Innings, overnight 27-2):

Atiq-ur-Rehman b Yasir 0

Shahid Yousuf c Sajid b Yasir 33

Mansoor Amjad c Wasim b Yasir 0

Ijaz Ahmed lbw b Yasir 15

Abdur Rehman b Najaf 42

Shahzad Malik c Wasim b Akhtar 60

Imran Nazir b Yasir 24

Hafiz Khalid c Sajid b Akhtar 4

Asim Butt b Akhtar 35

Kashif Raza b Yasir 0

Sarfraz Ahmed not out 1

EXTRAS (LB-4, NB-6) 10

TOTAL (all out, 71.1 overs) 224

FALL OF WKTS: 1-2, 2-2, 3-51, 4-60, 5-151, 6-167, 7-172, 8-204, 9-222.

BOWLING: Yasir Arafat 19-5-53-6 (3nb); Najaf Shah 16-5-42-1 (2nb); Sohail Tanvir 17-2-64-0; Akhtar Ayub 13.1-5-33-3 (1nb); Babar Naeem 6-1-28-0.

RAWALPINDI (2nd Innings):

Sohail Nasir not out 12

Babar Naeem not out 16

EXTRAS 0

TOTAL (for no wkt, 11 overs) 26

BOWLING (to-date): Sarfraz Ahmed 6-1-20-0; Kashif Raza 5-2-6-0.—Agencies