Karachi (Sports Report):- The ninth round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2021-22 season begins at three Karachi venues from Sunday with Sindh leading the points table with 102 points.
Sindh will take on Central Punjab in their ninth-round fixture at the State Bank Stadium, Karachi will be live-streamed on PCB’s YouTube channel.
The top team in the points table will be eying to make a comeback after going down to Northern by an innings in their eight-round match. Ahsan Ali, who recently turned 28 is currently on the third number in the batting charts with 641 runs. Among the bowlers Sohail Khan is on the third spot with 24 wickets from six matches.
Meanwhile, joint defending champions Central Punjab who currently sit at number four will try to repeat their previous round performance. The Mohammad Saad-led side defeated bottom placed Balochistan by five wickets. Saad who spearheaded the successful chase with an unbeaten knock of 63 is placed fifth in the batting charts with 610 runs from eight matches. In the bowling department, Central Punjab will be relying on the 29-year old right-arm pacer Mohammad Ali, who from six outings in the tournament has gathered 25 scalps.
Southern Punjab plays Northern at the NBP Sports Complex, Karachi.
Southern Punjab is currently positioned at number five in the points table with 90 points, while Northern is occupied on the third spot with 101 points. Northern will be hoping to capitalise over the previous round win against table-toppers Sindh. Win against Southern Punjab will provide them a chance to jump inside the top two before going into the final round.
On the other hand, Southern Punjab will be pinning their hopes on right-handed batter Tayyab Tahir to continue to score runs for them. The 28-year old is currently placed second on the batting charts, scoring 685 runs from eight matches. In the bowling charts, Southern Punjab’s Ali Usman leads with 31 wickets from seven matches.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to play Balochistan at the UBL Sports Complex, Karachi.
Second on the points table, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be eying valuable bonus batting and bowling points and a win over the sixth-placed Balochistan when the two sides clash in the ninth-round fixture.
Both sides played out a drawn game in their previous outing in this season in the fourth-round match held at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.
The right-handed batter Sahibzada Farhan will be the key for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as he is leading the tournament’s batting charts with 860 runs from eight matches.
In the bowling department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will rely on the left-arm spin of Asif Afridi, who currently sits on number eight in the bowling charts with 20 wickets from five matches.
Balochistan would be hoping that Shan Masood –centurion for them from the last two rounds continues to score some runs in the ninth-round.
Ninth-round fixtures:
Southern Punjab vs Northern –NBP Sports Complex, Karachi
Sindh vs Central Punjab –State Bank Stadium, Karachi
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Balochistan –UBL Sports Complex, Karachi
