Sports Bulletin Report
Rawalpindi: AFT Southern Punjab opener Zain Abbas scored his seventh career century and mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed recorded his second 10-wicket haul in a match for Sindh as their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy encounter entered into an exciting stage at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Zain, playing his 74th first-class match and starting the day at 48 in AFT Southern Punjab’s 77 for three, was dismissed after scoring 138 as his side collected 283 after having already secured a 97-run first innings lead.
When stumps were drawn for the third day, Sindh, chasing 381 for victory, were 57 for no wicket. Saim Ayub (43 not out) and Khurram Manzoor (14 not out) will resume their innings on Wednesday morning, with their side needing another 324 for an outright win.
Zain batted for just under six hours during which he received 195 balls out of which 13 were converted into fours and two into sixes. Zain added 85 runs for the fifth wicket with Umar Siddiq (42) after AFT Southern Punjab had slipped to 114 for four.
Sindh’s Abrar Ahmed continued his top form when he followed up his first innings figures of 37.3-10-94-5 with 31.5-3-100-6 for match figures of 11 for 194. The 23-year-old’s career-best remains 11 for 63 against Balochistan at the UBL Sports Complex in Karachi in November 2021.
Abrar, whose overnight figures were one for 29 in his eighth first-class match, accounted for Zain Abbas, Salman Ali Agha (13), Sharoon Siraj (17), Muhammad Imran Randhawa (11), Mohammad Abbas (16) and Ahmed Bashir (0).
At the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium in Abbottabad, Northern were sensing a massive victory against Balochistan.
Balochistan, resuming their first innings on the penultimate day at 108 for four in reply to Northern’s 520 for eight declared, were bundled out for 216 with Hussain Talat (48) and Yasir Shah (31) notable scorers on Tuesday. Wickets were evenly shared between Mubasir Khan (three for 18), Athar Mehmood (two for 45), Kashif Ali (two for 55) and Aamir Jamal (two for 67).
After being forced to follow-on and trailing by 304 runs, Balochistan finished the third day’s play at 136 for five with Khurram Shahzad and Hussain Talat at the crease but yet to get off the mark.
Ali Waqas (41) and Imran Butt (38) had provided Balochistan a 59-run start before they slipped to 104 for three and then lost two wickets at the score of 136. Balochistan require another 168 runs to make Northern bat again.
Due to wet outfield, there was no play between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Central Punjab at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.
Scores in brief (3rd round, day 3 of 4)
At the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
AFT Southern Punjab (overnight 259-7) 278 all-out, 94.3 overs (Usman Salahuddin 89, Umar Siddiq 47, Ali Usman 42, Mohammad Ilyas 39; Abrar Ahmed 5-94, Mohammad Umar 2-51, Mir Hamza 2-52) and (overnight 77-3) 283 all-out, 85.5 overs (Zain Abbas 138, Umar Siddiq 42, Ali Usman 26 not out; Abrar Ahmed 6-100, Ghulam Mudassar 2-59, Mir Hamza 2-64)
Sindh 181 all-out, 50.2 overs (Mohammad Umar 59, Saad Khan 36, Fawad Alam 32; Mohammad Ilyas 5-50, Ahmed Bashir 3-31, Mohammad Abbas 2-41) and 57-0, 17 overs (Saim Ayub 43 not out, Khurram Manzoor 14 not out)
First innings points – AFT Southern Punjab 8 (2 batting points, 3 bowling, extra bowling bonus points 3); Sindh 4 (3 bowling points, extra bowling bonus point 1)
At the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad
Northern (1st innings) (overnight 347-3) 520-8d, 116 overs (Faizan Riaz 201 not out, Mohammad Huraira 169, Abdul Faseeh 34, Umar Amin 22; Taj Wali 5-91)
Balochistan (overnight 108-4) 216 all out, 81.1 overs (Asad Shafiq 53, Hussain Talat 48, Yasir Shah 31, Haris Sohail 26; Mubasir Khan 3-18, Athar Mehmood 2-45, Kashif Ali 2-55, Aamir Jamal 2-67) and 136-5, 32 overs (Ali Waqas 41, Imran Butt 38)
First innings points – Northern 10 (5 batting points, 3 bowling point, 2 extra bowling bonus points); Balochistan 2 (1 batting point, 1 bowling point)
At the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad (no play)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 220 all out, 77.4 overs (Waqar Ahmed 58, Sahibzada Farhan 44, Nabi Gul 40; Usama Mir 6-91, Ahmed Daniyal 3-33)
Central Punjab (overnight 24-0) 173-4, 65 overs ((Abid Ali 66, Abdullah Shafique 51, Ali Shan 22; Khalid Usman 3-52)
First innings points (to date) – Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 2 (1 batting point, 1 bowling point); Central Punjab 5 (3 bowling points, 2 extra bowling bonus points)
