Sindh declare at 476-9 thanks to Fawad’s century, Hamza’s grit
Fawad Alam hammered unbeaten 100 on the second day of their second round match of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (first-class) against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa here at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi.
Fawad Alam hammered unbeaten 100 thanks to solid support from tail-ender Mir Hamza (15*) as the duo put on 108 for the tenth-wicket unbroken stand to enable Sindh to declare their first innings at 476-9 on the second day of their second round match of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (first-class) against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa here at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi.
Sindh were 368-9 with Fawad batting on 25 when Mir Hamza joined him. Hamza extended great support to the discarded Test batsman that enabled him to hit his 31st century in his 157th first-class outing. Fawad smashed eight fours and one six from 138 balls. Hamza faced 93 balls and stayed at the wicket for 126 minutes.
Adil Amin, right-arm off-spinner, pulled off his career-best figures in an innings by grabbing 5-81 in 28 overs. Fast bowler Sameen Gul picked 3-50. Resuming at 254-2, Sindh rode on solid efforts from opener Omair Yousuf (174) and skipper Asad Shafiq (81) to push hosts to a huge total under simmering heat. Omair, who started with an overnight score of 133, went on to post 174, his career best. The rookie right-handed batsman struck 18 fours and three sixes in his 298-ball knock. He stayed for 470 minutes at the crease.
He added 145 for the third wicket with skipper Asad, who fell after adding 13 runs to his overnight score. Asad smacked seven fours and one six in his 144-ball effort.
In response, KP had a brittle start when they lost their openers Sahibzada Farhan (3) and Israrullah (2) cheaply.
An unbeaten 92-run partnership between Adil Amin (63*) and Ashfaq Ahmed (28*) took pressure off KP as they reached 97-2 till close. Sindh were awarded four batting points for being at 355 for the loss of seven when 110 overs of their first innings were completed. KP got two points.
Meanwhile, Umar Siddiq and Imran Rafiq put on an unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 110 to lead a fight-back for Southern Punjab against Balochistan.
In response to the hosts’ huge first innings total of 500-9 declared in 130.5 overs, Southern Punjab ended the second day at the Bugti Stadium on 161-3 in 41 overs. They still trail by 339 runs.
The left-handed batting pair of Umar and Imran pulled their team out of trouble after they had been reduced to 51-3 in the 15th over.
Umar was unbeaten on 67, having smashed nine fours and a six. Imran was 56 not out, having struck 11 fours.
Southern Punjab suffered early blows when they lost captain Shan Masood (6) and last match’s double century-maker Sami Aslam (20) with just 37 on the board. Things worsened for the visitors when Sohaib Maqsood (10) was run out.
Umar Gul and Yasir Shah got one wicket each.
Earlier, Balochistan added 153 runs for the loss of five wickets to their overnight score of 347-4 before captain Imran Farhat decided to declare their innings.
Azeem Ghumman, who began the day at 143, was the sixth batsman to be dismissed, after scoring 163. The right-handed opener’s tenth first-class century included 16 fours. He stayed at the wicket for 520 minutes and faced 336 balls.
Ammad Butt scored 54, while bating at No7. He hit nine fours and two sixes. Bismillah Khan contributed 32 and Yasir Shah 31.
Left-arm spinner Mohammad Irfan was Southern Punjab’s leading wicket-taker, claiming 5-131. This was his 15th five-wicket haul at this level. Balochistan earned five batting points for reaching 400-run mark in 110 overs. Southern Punjab got one bowling point.
At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, after scoring 433 all out in their first innings, Central Punjab dismissed Northern for 114 and forced them to follow on.
Resuming their first innings at 369-5, Central Punjab were bowled out in 107.5 overs. Captain Azhar Ali, who was batting on 110 on Saturday, fell for 155. He hit 13 fours in his 262-ball knock. Left-arm spinner Nauman Ali (4-101) and right-arm fast-bowler Mohammad Musa (3-78) were impressive with the leather.
In reply Northern were skittled out for 114 in the 61st over. Raza hasan scored 20.
Spinner Zafar Gohar got 4-36 and Test discard Ehsan Adil got 3-15.
Northern will start their second innings on Monday (today).
Central Punjab bagged five bonus points, while Northern accumulated three.
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