Southern & Central Punjab marching towards victories in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2019/20 round six

Central Punjab vs Northern:

Central Punjab took control of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy four-day first-class match against Northern at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad on Wednesday.

Day-three of the match belonged to Central Punjab’s batsmen as Rizwan Hussain’s 110, Umar Akmal’s 73 and Usman Salahuddin’s unbeaten 72 helped the home side amass 345 for six before declaring their second innings.

Set a 381-run target, Northern were struggling to avoid a defeat as they stumbled to 121 for five by close of play, still needing a further 260 runs for a win with only five second innings wickets remaining.

Zeeshan Malik with 52 off 58 balls was the only one to confront the Central Punjab bowlers with some confidence. 

The spin duo of Bilal Asif and Zafar Gohar who shared seven wickets in the first innings took all five wickets to fall. At the close of the play Zafar had taken three for 46 in 20 overs while Bilal had taken two wickets for 38 runs in 13 overs. 

Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 137 for two, Central Punjab pushed on the accelerator by adding 116 runs for the loss of two wickets in the first session of the day. They maintained their run scoring momentum in the second session before declaring the innings. 

Opener Rizwan Hussain compiled his 110 off 123 balls, striking eight fours and four sixes. Umar Akmal who made fifties in both innings, was dismissed for 73. Usman faced 97 balls for his unbeaten 72 that included seven fours and three sixes.

Northern’s captain Nauman Ali who took eight wickets in the first innings had to settle for three costly wickets in the second innings as he conceded 160 runs in 28 overs. 

Southern Punjab vs Balochistan:

Southern Punjab had Balochistan following-on at 30 for two when stumps were drawn on the third day of the four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy sixth-round fixture at Quetta’s Bugti Stadium.

After setting up a mammoth first innings score of 502 all-out, Southern Punjab skittled out Balochistan for 295 in 79.3 overs at the back of right-arm medium-fast Umaid Asif’s five-wicket haul.

Balochistan had resumed their innings on 37 for one and soon found themselves in a quagmire after losing two more wickets with 58 runs on board with their overnight batsmen Azeem Ghumman and Imran Butt back in the pavilion, courtesy Umaid. 

A 119-run partnership for the fourth-wicket between Imran Farhat and Hussain Talat followed, which denied further inroads to the pacer. Balochistan’s captain Imran scored 65 from 77 balls, hitting 10 fours in his 117-minute stay at the crease before he was caught behind off Umaid’s bowling. 

All-rounder Hussain held the other end, setting up a 67-run partnership for the fifth-wicket with Bismallah Khan (36). 

During his 167-ball stay at the crease, Hussain scored 89 runs, hitting 10 fours. 

He too was removed by Umaid, who dismissed four of the top five Balochistan batsmen. The lanky pacer returned five for 57 – his ninth five-fer in first-class cricket. 

Right-arm medium-fast Mohammad Irfan jnr and leg-break Zahid Mahmood took two wickets each for 53 and 57 runs. 

With Balochistan 207 runs behind, Southern Punjab captain Sami Aslam enforced the follow-on. 

Umaid stretched his wicket-taking form into Balochistan’s second innings and sent opener Awais Zia (five) back into the pavilion with only five runs on the board. The batting side lost their second wicket after 22 runs when Irfan accounted for the wicket of Imran (five). 

Azeem (11) and nightwatchman Jalat Khan (two) batted at the close of play as Balochistan trailed by 177 runs.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Sindh:

In Abbottabad, no ball was bowled on day three of the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh as play had to be called-off due to rain.