Sports Reporter
LAHORE (November 2, 2021):-The absorbing red-ball cricket action will resume from Wednesday when the third round of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2021-22 begins. The first two rounds have provided glimpses of individual and collective brilliance with 16 centuries scored, four of which were maiden, and three bowlers record maiden five-wicket hauls.
Nineteen-year-old Mohammad Huraira, who was part of the national side that featured in the U19 World Cup last year, scored his maiden first-class century on the final day of Northern’s second round clash against Central Punjab, which ended in draw.
For Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Sahibzada Farhan, Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad will hold great significance as he scored his first century at this level there against Sindh.
Southern Punjab’s Tayyab Tahir brought up his maiden ton in style as he smashed 221, becoming only the second batter after Faizan Riaz to score a double-century this season.
Tayyab leads the batting chart with 360 runs and Faizan follows him with 342 runs. These two are the only batters in the tournament to have scored more than 300 runs, to date. Central Punjab’s Abid Ali is third with 280 runs.
Nauman Ali, member of the national Test team, had scored his maiden first-class ton on the last day of round one at the Gaddafi Stadium.
After Northern’s pacer Musa Khan took five wickets for the first time in the first round, Balochistan off-spinner Raza-ul-Hasan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Niaz Khan recorded their maiden five-fers in the second round.
The bowling chart, however, is led by Central Punjab’s all-rounder Zafar Gohar as his left-arm orthodox has accounted for 11 batters at 37.09 runs per wicket. Twenty-one-year-old Musa has taken nine wickets at 20.67, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Imran Khan Snr, Raza-ul-Hasan and Balochistan’s Ali Usman have taken seven wickets apiece in two matches.
While all six matches across the first two rounds ended in draw, Northern, who were the finalists of the 2019-20 edition, are at the top with 23 points – two clear of the second-ranked Southern Punjab.
Southern Punjab displayed tactical and calculated approach when their batters crossed the 400-run benchmark inside the 100 overs of their first innings in the second round fixture against Balochistan at the Multan Cricket Stadium, which brought them maximum (five) batting points. Southern Punjab, which is captained by Mohammad Abbas, have collected seven batting points in the first two rounds, which is the joint-most with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Azhar Ali’s Central Punjab, Iftikhar Ahmed’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Imran Butt’s Balochistan are locked on 20 points, with net run-rate separating them. Central Punjab’s better net run-rate has them at third spot, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are fourth and Balochistan are fifth.
Fawad Alam’s Sindh have catching up to do when they face Northern at Multan Cricket Stadium as they are at the bottom of the table with 18 points.
For their third round fixture, Central Punjab will stay in Lahore as they play Balochistan, who will play their first match of the season at Pakistan’s home of cricket after playing their first round fixture at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad and second round fixture at Multan Cricket Stadium. All the action from this match will be beamed across the globe through PCB’s official YouTube channel.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will also remain stationed at Faisalabad to host Southern Punjab, who travel for the first time in this edition after playing their first two matches in Multan.
