Sindh face Southern, KP battle Central Punjab in fourth round of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy
Second-placed Sindh will host fourth-placed Southern Punjab in their fourth round fixture of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (first-class) here at UBL Sports Complex on Saturday (today).
Second-placed Sindh will host fourth-placed Southern Punjab in their fourth round fixture of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (first-class) here at UBL Sports Complex on Saturday (today).
Abid Ali will return to Sindh’s squad after taking a break for featuring in Pakistan’s side for the three-match One-day International (ODI) series against Sri Lanka, which the hosts won 2-0 here at National Stadium.
Abid got a place in Pakistan’s side for their third and last ODI which the hosts won convincingly. Abid, with his superb 67-ball 74, had helped Pakistan chase the 298-run target quite comfortably.
Asad Shafiq, Sindh captain, however, has some tough calls to make as which of seasoned batsman Khurram Manzoor, who averages 50.75, and 20-year-old Omair Bin Yousuf, who has 244 runs in three innings, will make way if Abid is to be slotted in his favoured opening position.
Southern Punjab’s captain Shan Masood, meanwhile, also finds himself in a predicament as Mohammad Abbas, who has three wickets in two matches, takes a break from domestic cricket to avoid fatigue ahead of Pakistan’s tour of Australia.
Sindh skipper Asad Shafiq said that they will put in their best against Southern Punjab.
“We practised yesterday and also today. The players have gelled well and will try to play well in this match,” Asad told a pre-match news conference here on Friday.
“Yes we have talked to bowlers and whatever conditions we have we will try to get the best out of them. It’s right that the pitch here is not good for fast bowling but it’s part of the game and we should be prepared to play positive cricket in any kind of conditions,” the right-handed Test batsman said.
Meanwhile, Southern Punjab skipper Shah Masood said that they will carry the experience of their previous three matches to this game.
“Combination is good and now we will try to take the experience of three games to this match,” Shan said.
He said that at least three individuals needed to play big innings for winning a game. “We didn’t see any individual performance from our batsmen except an innings from Sami Aslam. In patches we all have contributed with the bat but for winning matches at least two or three batsmen need to play big innings,” Shan said.
Meanwhile international stumper Mohammad Rizwan, who scored a brilliant 176, while leading Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in their tournament opener against Northern, will take over the leadership responsibilities from his deputy Sahibzada Farhan in their fixture against Azhar Ali-led Central Punjab, who lead the points table after securing two consecutive innings’ margin wins, at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.
For Central Punjab, the Abbottabad contest will be a chance to further consolidate their combinations. Their openers, middle-order, all-rounders and bowlers have risen to the occasion and what gives them further impetus is their in-form captain, Azhar, who tops the run-getters charts after scoring two centuries in as many matches.
“Our morale is really high. we have gelled really well. KP are formidable opponents and it won’t be an easy game for us, we want to continue our form and play positive cricket. If we continue to play to our strengths, I am hopeful of the team doing well,” Azhar said.
The two teams, however, will hope that rain doesn’t continue to play spoil sport, especially, after how it permitted only 86 overs across four days in the last round fixture between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Southern Punjab.
At the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi, the rain continued to halt action, with the last day of previous fixture getting washed out.
Northern, bottom of the points table with only 19 points from three matches, will hope to compound Balochistan’s woes after the latter’s innings and 12 runs defeat at Bugti Stadium in Quetta in the previous round.
There have been bright spots for Northern. The top run-getters for them are Pakistan Under-19 opener and the wicket-keeper batsman Haider Ali and Rohail Nazir, who have 196 and 140 runs at averages of 39.20 and 28.00, in the tournament so far.
Despite an innings’ defeat against Central Punjab there was silver lining for Imran Farhat-led Balochistan. Bismillah Khan scored two fifties and his side will be hoping that the gloveman builds on it.
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