KARACHI, Oct 20: Pakistan discard Bazid Khan launched the 50th edition of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship with an unbeaten century for KRL on the opening day of the four-day fixture against ZTBL at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi on Saturday.
Bazid, the 26-year-old of ex-Test batting great Majid, stroked 120 to help KRL overcome a disastrous start and reach 253 for five after ZTBL elected to field first. KRL were reeling at 12 for three when their skipper Mohammad Wasim, another Test reject, joined Bazid to resurrect the innings. The pair added 192 before Wasim was dismissed for eight short of what would had been the 30-year-old’s 18th first-class century.
Medium-pacer Saad Altaf claimed six for 73 to cap a fine day for Islamabad who reached 77 for no wicket after dismissing Abbottabad for 212 in their first innings.
PIA also enjoyed a good day in Sheikhupura where they bowled out Sui Northern Gas Private Limited (SNGPL) for 152 before finishing the day at 46 without loss.
Meanwhile, the two games scheduled for Karachi will now start from Sunday with defending champions Karachi Whites (remained from Karachi Urban) taking on Hyderabad at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad and Karachi Blues (formerly Karachi Harbour) playing Rawalpindi here at the UBL Sports Complex.
Scores on Saturday (First day of four):
At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad:
ABBOTTABAD 212 in 65 overs (Khalid Usman 50, Iftikhar Mahmood 36; Saad Altaf 6-73); ISLAMABAD 77-0 in 16 overs (Raheel Majeed 47 not out).
At Sports Stadium, Sargodha:
FAISALABAD 205-4 in 83 overs (Asif Hussain 89 not out; Imranullah Aslam 3-55) v MULTAN.
At LCCA Ground, Lahore:
LAHORE RAVI 251 in 71.2 overs (Kashif Siddique 53, Junaid Zia 50, Waqas Ahmed 45; Aqeel Ahmed 4-80, Shabbir Ahmed 3-60); WAPDA 33-1 in 9 overs.
At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi:
KRL 253-5 in 83 overs (Bazid Khan 120 not out, Mohammad Wasim 92) v ZTBL.
At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar:
LAHORE SHALIMAR 230-8 in 83 overs (Mohammad Saeed 55, Ali Raza 44 not out; Nauman Habib 3-44) v PESHAWAR.
At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot:
SIALKOT 106-5 in 30 overs (Bilal Hussain 48) v NATIONAL BANK.
At Sheikhupura Stadium:
SNGPL 152 in 54.4 overs (Najaf Shah 4-42, Tahir Khan 3-20, Fazle Akbar 3-31); PIA 46-0 in 19 overs.