KARACHI: Mohammad Talha celebrated his inclusion in the Bangladesh-bound Pakistan squad by grabbing 7-77 as National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) secured a narrow 10-run lead against PIA in the eighth-round Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship Division I match at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot on Friday.
The young Faisalabad-born paceman destroyed the PIA top-order batting with a hostile burst with the new ball after the NBP had been bowled out for 248, having resumed at 216-9 on the second morning.
Fahad Iqbal (53) and wicket-keeper Anop Ravi (53) came together in a gallant stand of 109 after PIA were in mire at 63-5. The bankers then reached 14-1 in their second innings.
Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), the current leaders, were in driving seat after gaining a substantial first-innings lead of 123 runs over Wapda at the National Cricket Ground in Islamabad.
Replying to Wapda’s modest total of 192, the ZTBL scored 315 with opener Sharjeel Khan (61) and Haris Sohail (60) being the main run-getters. Medium-pacer M. Imran Khan took 5-61. Wapda reduced that lead somewhat by making 11-0 in the second innings.
Habib Bank’s miseries continued to pile up as they conceded the first-innings advantage to State Bank at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. The champions caved in meekly for 144 in reply to State Bank’s 204 with pace duo of Saad Altaf (5-63) and Mohammad Naved (4-24) sharing the bulk of wickets.
State Bank extended their overall lead to 137 as they went to stumps at 77-2 with Rameez Raja making 54 before providing discarded Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria his 999th first-class cricket.
Mohammad Sami led from the front to put Karachi Blues on top against Faisalabad at the Iqbal Stadium. Sami top-scored with an undefeated 61 that helped his side score 338 with the eighth-wicket partnership with Tanvir (41) yielding 72.
Sami then captured 3-37, while receiving good support from Tanvir (2-38), Azam Hussain (3-65) and Atif Maqbool (2-55), as Faisalabad were bowled out for 231 to give the visitors a lead of 107. In their second innings, Karachi Blues collected 13without loss.
Rawalpindi were in sight of victory after Sialkot were forced to follow on at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. After the host team had made 404 with captain Babar Naeem contributing 111, Sialkot were blown apart in 31.5 overs for just 97 with emerging paceman Mohammad Rameez claiming 5-31.
However, the visiting team fared better in their second innings to reach 63-0 at stumps.
Abbottabad were 191-6 after Islamabad were all out for 337 in their first innings at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.
Close of play scores on Friday (day two of four):At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: KARACHI BLUES 338 in 88.2 overs (Mohammad Sami 61 not out, Shahzaib Hasan 58, Hafiz Asad Baig 56, Tanvir Ahmed 41 Farrukh Rizvi 39; Abdur Rauf 4-80, Naseer Akram 3-72, Waqas Maqsood 2-124) and 12-0 in 3 overs; FAISALABAD 231 in 63.2 overs (Zeeshan Asif 92, Asif Hussain 40; Mohammad Sami 3-37, Azam Hussain 3-65, Tanvir Ahmed 2-38, Atif Maqbool 2-55).
At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: NATIONAL BANK 248 in 66.3 overs (Fawad Alam 49, Umaid Asif 41 not out, Khurram Manzoor 33; Kamran Sajid 4-62, Najaf Shah 2-40, Anwar Ali 2-52) and 14-1 in 3 overs; PIA 238 in 53.1 overs (Fahad Iqbal 53, Anop Ravi 53; Mohammad Talha 7-77).
At Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: RAWALPINDI 404 in 93.2 overs (Babar Naeem 111, Usman Saeed 63, Awais Zia 51, Zahid Mansoor 44, Naved Malik 33; Mohammad Imran 4-119, Prince Abbas 4-126); SIALKOT 97 in 31.5 overs (Mohammad Rameez 5-31, Haseeb Azam 2-0, Sadaf Hussain 2-44) and 63-0 in 10.3 overs (Mohammad Yasin 43 not out).
At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: STATE BANK 204 in 61.5 overs (Rizwan Haider 62, Rameez Aziz 44, Adnan Raees 34; Sajid Shah 6-34, Danish Kaneria 3-75) and 77-2 in 19.3 overs (Rameez Raja 54); HABIB BANK 144 in 53.2 overs (Shan Masood 52, Khaqan Arsal 40; Saad Altaf 5-63, Mohammad Naved 4-24).
At National Cricket Ground, Islamabad: WAPDA 192 in 59.5 overs (Asif Khan 59, Sarfraz Ahmed 40 not out; Rehan Riaz 3-28, Junaid Nadir 3-42, Mohammad Khalil 2-53, Rao Iftikhar 2-58) and 11-0 in 3.5 overs; ZTBL 315 in 76.5 overs (Sharjeel Khan 61, Haris Sohail 60, Yasir Hameed 54, Zulqarnain Haider 37, Rehan Riaz 34; M. Imran Khan 5-61, Zulfiqar Babar 3-58).
At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: ISLAMABAD 337 in 104 overs (Zohaib Ahmed 80, Faizan Riaz 46, Fakhar Hussain 39 not out, Zeeshan Mushtaq 37, Ali Sarfraz 30; Khalid Usman 3-53, Wajid Ali 2-16, Ahmed Jamal 2-82, Nabiullah 2-94); ABBOTTABAD 191-6 in 50.3 overs (Rehan Afridi 36, Rameez Ahmed 35, Almar Khan Afridi 34, Wajid Ali 33 not out; Zohaib Ahmed 2-53, Fakhar Hussain 2-60, Nasrullah Khan 2-61).