INSPIRED by a fine century from Khurram Shehzad, Faisalabad strengthened their grip in the Bottom Six Teams final of the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship after reducing Bahawalpur to 136-6 in the last innings of the match at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on Wednesday.

On the penultimate day of the five-day title decider, Bahawalpur found themselves in a big hole after Faisalabad had piled up 390 in their second innings to leave them chasing a daunting 385. On Thursday, Bahawalpur will be hoping that skipper Rehan Rafiq (33) and veteran all-rounder Kamran Hussain (1) pull them out of the mire with still 249 more runs required for victory.

Trailing by only six runs o the first innings, Faisalabad extended their overnight score of 203-4 to 390 before being dismissed in the second innings. Khurram, the 31-year-old right-hander who was batting on 42 on Tuesday evening, duly completed his seventh first-class century before falling to former international Kamran Hussain for 117.

Khurram, who negotiated 188 balls during his 286-minute stay while striking 10 boundaries, was the dominant partner in the game-changing partnership yielding 94 runs for the sixth wicket with Faisalabad skipper Mohammad Salman (37).

Imran Khalid (21) and first-class debutant Bilal Butt (27) further frustrated the Bahawalpur bowlers with useful knocks. Kamran claimed four for 87 in 27 overs with his left-arm medium-pacers, while leg-spinning all-rounder Imranullah Aslam took three for 71 in 18 overs.

If the match ends in a draw Bahawalpur will be declared the champions on the basis of first-innings lead.

Scoreboard

FAISALABAD (1st Innings) 273 (Mohammad Salman 69, Ali Waqas 41; Imranullah Aslam 5-83, Ataullah 2-76).BAHAWALPUR (1st Innings) 279 (Bilal Khilji 131, Faisal Mubashir 33; Samiullah Khan Niazi 5-73, Bilal Butt 2-44).FAISALABAD (2nd Innings, overnight 203-4):Asif Ali c Ansar b Imranullah    22Moazzam Hayat c Waqas b Ansar    6M. Shahid c Ansar b Imranullah    55Ali Waqas c Waqas b Kamran    55Khurram Shehzad b Kamran    117Zeeshan Butt lbw b Kamran    18Mohammad Salman lbw b Kamran    37Imran Khalid c and b Ansar    21Bilal Butt b Imranullah    27Samiullah Niazi st Waqas b Faisal Elahi    16Faisal Yasin not out    1EXTRAS (B-8, LB-3, W-1, NB-3)    15TOTAL (all out, 101.1 overs)    390FALL OF WKTS: 1-13, 2-62, 3-101, 4-177, 5-209, 6-303, 7-335, 8-366, 9-376.BOWLING: Ataullah 28-3-107-0 (2nb); Ansar Javed 20-1-85-2; Kamran Hussain 27-6-87-4 (1nb); Bilal Khilji 1-0-1-0; Imranullah Aslam 18-2-71-3; Faisal Elahi 6.1-0-19-1; Hamid Ali 1-0-9-0.BAHAWALPUR (2nd Innings):Imranullah Aslam b Bilal    4Hamid Ali lbw b Bilal    13Rafay Ahmed b Samiullah    11Bilal Khilji b Faisal    21Faisal Mubashir b Imran    12Rehan Rafiq not out    33Faisal Elahi b Khurram    27Kamran Hussain not out    1EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2, W-1, NB-7)    14TOTAL (for six wkts, 38 overs)    136FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-31, 3-31, 4-65, 5-65, 6-135.BOWLING (to-date): Samiullah Khan Niazi 9-2-25-1; Bilal Butt 10-2-52-2 (2nb, 1w); Faisal Yasin 5-1-24-1 (5nb); Imran Khalid 9-3-22-1; Khurram Shehzad 5-2-7-1.