QeA Trophy 2019/20 round seven matches headed for draws

The penultimate day of the QeA Trophy 2019/20 round seven matches ended on even notes for all three teams after batting heroics of Fawad Alam for Sindh against Northern and Umar Akmal and Usman Salahuddin for Central Punjab against Balochistan.

Central Punjab vs Balochistan:

Half-centuries by Umar Akmal and Usman Salahuddin helped Central Punjab add 227 runs to their total on day three of their four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture against Balochistan before play had to be called-off early due to bad light at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.

Central Punjab were 255 for six, after resuming their innings at 28 for two, before stumps were drawn on the day in which 58.4 overs were bowled. 

Umar recorded his 41st half-century in first-class cricket, scoring 78 runs from 102 courtesy of 11 fours and a six. 

Meanwhile, Usman struck his second half-century on trot and was unbeaten on 74. The 28-year-old had hit 10 boundaries from the 129 balls he had faced.

The pair of Umar and Usman knitted a crucial 124-run partnership for the fifth-wicket to rescue Central Punjab from a precarious situation.

Balochistan tightened the screws on hosts by taking two early wickets which left them reeling at 84 for four. 

Opener Salman Butt added 32 runs to his overnight score of 15 before he fell three runs short of scoring his first-class career’s 34th half-century. 

For Balochistan, Mohammad Asghar picked up two more wickets on Wednesday. He had taken three wickets for 81 in 24 overs at the close of the play.

Right-arm medium-fast bowlers Khurram Shehzad and Hussain Talat picked up a wicket each. 

On Thursday, Usman will resume Central Punjab’s innings with Zafar Gohar.

Northern vs Sindh:

Northern remained in control of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match against Sindh on the third day of the four-day game at the National Stadium, Karachi despite a fighting century from Fawad Alam on Wednesday.

Northern accumulated an overall lead of 255 runs after reaching 173 for two in their second innings at stumps when bad light again forced play to be called off. 

Zeeshan Malik was the cornerstone of Northern's second innings with an attractive and unbeaten 96 runs off 131 balls. He shared an undefeated third wicket stand of 63 runs with first innings double centurion Faizan Riaz. 

Zeeshan hit 13 fours and two sixes but Faizan who had scored a rapid 211 in the first innings from just 200 balls played a more subdued role as he faced 56 balls in his innings. The two came together after Mir Hamza dismissed Umar Amin (21) having him caught in the slip cordon while later Shoaib Minhas was bowled by Sohail Khan for 29.

Umar hit four boundaries in his 22 ball innings before his dismissal.

Earlier Northern skipper, Nauman Ali took five for 58, his fourth five-wicket haul in the season, to bowl out Sindh for 326 runs. Nauman produced quality bowling on a slow pitch when Sindh resumed on 247 for five with Fawad Alam on 75 and Anwar Ali on 41.

Left-hander, Fawad Alam went onto make his 32nd first-class century as he put on a 126-run partnership for the sixth wicket with all-rounder, Anwar Ali who made 69.

Fawad scored 107 runs from 161 balls with 14 boundaries while Anwar curbing his usually aggressive style of play also batted patiently to face 168 balls hitting nine fours.

Nauman broke the partnership by having Fawad caught by Faizan and later removed Anwar as well.

Sindh were dismissed shortly after lunch conceding a lead of 82 runs.

Southern Punjab vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:

Ashfaq Ahmed joined Sami Aslam and Imran Butt in crossing the 600-run mark with his fourth tournament century, eighth overall, which helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa collect maximum batting points against Southern Punjab on the penultimate day of the four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture in Abbottabad on Wednesday.

Ashfaq started at the overnight score of 81 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 162 for two in reply to Southern Punjab’s 338 all out, and was dismissed after scoring 143 that allowed his side to declare their first innings at 417 for five.

When stumps were drawn for the day, Southern Punjab, trailing by 79 runs on the first innings, were 15 for no loss. Sami Aslam (11) and Umer Siddiq (four) will resume their innings on the final morning on Thursday. 

Ashfaq is the third batsman after Southern Punjab’s Sami Aslam (683) and Balochistan’s Imran Butt (673) to break the 600-run barrier. The 33-year-old is now the second leading run-getter with 675 runs from nine innings of seven matches. 

Ashfaq, playing in his 52nd first-class match, struck 18 fours and a six in his 254-ball innings. After putting on 73 runs for the second-wicket with Sahibzada Farhan on Tuesday, Ashfaq stitched a 114-run partnership for the third wicket with Adil Amin (37). 

The other big partnership was for the sixth-wicket between wicketkeeper-batsman Rehan Afridi and Zohaib Khan. The pair added 127 runs without being separated. Rehan returned unbeaten on 87 (14x4, 105b) while Zohaib scored 63 not out (7x4, 130b).

For Southern Punjab, Umaid Asif was the most successful bowler with three for 142.