KARACHI, March 20: PIA, bidding to win their first-ever Patron’s Trophy, face an uphill task after Imran Farhat struck 215 to help Habib Bank reach a mammoth 444 on the fourth day of the five-day final at the Qadhafi Stadium in Lahore on Sunday. PIA, however, made a solid start as their openers Kamran Sajid and Ghulam Ali negotiated 18 overs to 59 for no loss with the latter striking seven fours in his 54-ball 40. At this stage, PIA still trail by 386 runs.
With more than 14 hours of playing time already lost to inclement weather on the first three days, the match could go into a sixth day if PIA get closer to their first objective of making 445 for a first-innings lead, according to the playing conditions.
Left-handed Imran, the Test reject, continued from where he had left off on Saturday as he added 105 to his overnight 110 after the bankers resumed at 246 for four. The stand-in Habib Bank captain benefited from several chances, but batted fluently throughout his stay of seven fours and 29 minutes.
Imran finally perished after hitting 30 fours and one six during his 312-ball knock. He failed to equal his highest first-class score of 216 by just one run.
Sajid Shah used the long handle effectively to strike seven boundaries in scoring 45 and added 106 for the seventh-wicket with his captain.
Aizaz and Asif Mujtaba were easily PIA’s best bowlers as they bagged three wickets each.
Scoreboard
HABIB BANK (1st Innings, overnight 246-4):
Riffatullah Mohmand lbw b Fazle 0
Imran Farhat b Aizaz 215
Aftab Khan b Janisar 25
Farhan Adil b Aizaz 43
Khaqan Arsal c Mahmood b Asif 20
Asadullah Butt lbw b Fazle 26
Abdul Rahman b Aizaz 12
Sajid Shah run out 45
Farhan Iqbal not out 17
Fahad Masood c Kamran b Asif 10
Kabir Khan lbw b Asif 0
EXTRAS (B-5, LB-12, W-1, NB-13) 31
TOTAL (all out, 112 overs) 444
FALL OF WKTS: 1-13, 2-69, 3-159, 4-201, 4-255, 6-297, 7-403, 8-417, 9-444.
BOWLING: Fazle Akbar 25-3-105-2 (1nb); Najaf Shah 26-2-143-0 (12nb); Janisar Khan 6-1-31-1; Aizaz Cheema 16-1-65-3; Kamran Sajid 11-1-15-0; Asif Mujtaba 28-2-68-3.
PIA (1st Innings):
Kamran Sajid not out 13
Ghulam Ali not out 40
EXTRAS (LB-3, NB-3) 6
TOTAL (for no wkt, 18 overs) 59
TO BAT: Shoaib Khan, Asif Mujtaba, Zeeshan Pervez, Mahmood Hamid, Moin Khan, Janisar Khan, Najaf Shah, Fazle Akbar.
BOWLING (to-date): Kabir Khan 6-1-19-0 (3nb); Fahad Masood 7-0-32-0; Sajid Shah 3-3-0-0; Asadullah Butt 2-1-5-0.