Quaid-e-Azam trophy 2019/20, all round five games end in a draw

Sindh vs Central Punjab:

The four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fifth-round fixture between Central Punjab and Sindh ended in a draw at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium.

Set a target of 331, Sindh were in trouble with half of their batting lineup back in the pavilion with only 68 runs on board as fast-bowler Naseem Shah continued his impressive form. 

Central Punjab declared at 273 for five in the morning session after adding 81 runs to their overnight 192 for two after which the young pacer had Sindh at 17 for one, as he bowled Abid Ali for the second time in the match, when Lunch was taken. 

The 16-year-old right-arm pacer took two more wickets in the evening session as his wicket tally for the match went to nine for 111 runs.

Sindh’s fightback was led by captain Sarfaraz Ahmed. The wicketkeeper-batsman scored a 62-ball 54 before he was dismissed by Naseem. Tabish Khan also had a big hand in securing a draw for the visiting side by spending 48 minutes at the crease scoring only one. 

Opener Khurram Manzoor, who scored 28 runs from his 84-ball stay at the crease, was the other noticeable batsman in the innings.

Spinner Zafar Gohar manageed to take the wickets of Asad Shafiq (eight) and Kashif Bhatti (0). 

Earlier, Central Punjab’s Salman Butt completed his 24th first-class century after resuming his innings on 90. The left-handed opening-batsman scored 137 runs from 206 balls, hitting 20 fours.

In the sixth round of the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Central Punjab host Northern at Iqbal Stadium, while Sindh travel to Abbottabad to play Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Scores in brief:

Central Punjab 313 all-out, 95.5 overs (Kamran Akmal 90, Ahmed Shehzad 60, Faheem Ashraf 52, Usman Salahuddin 38, Ehsan Adil 25; Kashif Bhatti 3-99, Mir Hamza 2-46, Sohail Khan 2-72, Tabish Khan 2-80) and 273-5, 65.5 overs (Salman Butt 137, Azhar Ali 90, Umer Akmal 24; Tabish Khan 3-65)

Sindh 256 all-out, 74.4 overs (Fawad Alam 92, Saad Ali 81, Omair Bin Yousaf 33; Naseem Shah 6-78, Ehsan Adil 2-36) and 158-8, 58 overs (Sarfaraz Ahmed 54, Khurram Manzoor 28, Saad Ali 23; Naseem Shah 3-33, Zafar Gohar 2-45)

Balochistan vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:

 Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa played out their draw at Quetta’s Bugti Stadium. Chasing a victory target of 306, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were 220 for five in 45 overs when stumps were drawn for the final day. 

After losing their captain Sahibzada Farhan (22) with 48 runs on the board, Israrullah and Ashfaq Ahmed hit aggressive half-centuries which helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa maintain a healthy run-rate of over 4.5 runs. 

Israrullah cracked a run-a-ball 85 before getting dismissed by Yasir Shah. His knock included 13 fours and a six. Ashfaq, from the other end, scored 51 runs off 64 balls, hitting seven fours. 

Yasir, the Pakistan leg-spinner, followed his four wickets in the first innings with the figures of two for 62, while Taj Wali and Akif Javed took a wicket apiece. 

Scores in brief:

Balochistan 553-8 declared, 145.4 overs (Imran Butt 214, Imran Farhat 134, Bismillah Khan 75, Awais Zia 69; Sajid Khan 3-126, Imran Khan Sr. 2-87) and 158-8 declared, 43 overs (Imran Butt 29, Awais Zia 27, Imran Farhat 25 not out; Sajid Shah 5-36). 

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 406 all-out, 103.3 overs (Adil Amin 109, Sahibzada Farhan 86, Israrullah 77, Khalid Usman 56, Zohaib Khan 37; Yasir Shah 4-111, Mohammad Asghar 4-107) and 220-5, 45 overs (Israrullah 85, Ashfaq Ahmed 51, Zohaib Khan 32 not out, Sahibzada Farhan 22; Yasir Shah 2-62).

Southern Punjab vs Northern:

Northern maintained the upper hand on the fourth and final day as their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament round-five first-class match against Southern Punjab ended in a draw at the Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot on Thursday.

Resuming their first innings at the overnight score of 403 for 8, Southern Punjab managed to take the total to 453 all out, courtesy wicketkeeper batsman Adnan Akmal’s 100-ball 64 that included 10 fours. Northern (first innings 550 for six declared) managed a 97-run first innings lead. 

Noman Ali with five wickets was the best bowler for Northern, Waqas Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi claimed two wickets apiece. 

Northern got off to a solid start in their second innings, first inning double centurion Zeeshan Malik made 59 runs while his fellow opener Haider Ali scored 79 runs. The two added 131 runs for the first wicket. Northern though lost three wickets in quick succession shortly before the tea interval; they were placed at 146 for three at tea. Left-arm-spinner Mohammad Irfan took all three wickets.

Northern declared their second innings at 212 for four after 57 overs of batting as stumps were drawn and the match ended in a tie. 

Scores in brief:

Northern 550 for 6 declared, 124.2 overs (Zeeshan Malik 216, Umar Amin 156, Faizan Riaz 83; Rahat Ali 3-97, Muhammad Abbas 2-86) and 212 for 4 declared, 57 overs (Haider Ali 79, Zeeshan Malik 59; Mohammad Irfan Jr. 3-70) 

Southern Punjab 453 all out, 113.5 overs (Sohaib Maqsood 111, Sami Aslam 100, Shan Masood 58; Noman Ali 5-148, Waqas Ahmed 3-59)