Sindh, Central Punjab in trouble at the end of day two of the ninth round of QeA Trophy 2019/20

Southern Punjab vs Sindh:

A superb unbeaten hundred from Adnan Akmal and an incisive three-wicket spell from Zia-ul-Haq allowed Southern Punjab to take control of their four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy round-nine match against Sindh on day two at the National Stadium on Tuesday.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Adnan stroked his way to 107 runs from 152 balls with 14 fours, his second century of the season. Adnan’s other two brothers, Kamran and Umar had scored hundreds for Central Punjab last week against Sindh at the same venue.  

It was Adnan’s innings and his ninth wicket partnership of 66 runs with Umaid Asif (37 from 54 balls) that allowed Southern Punjab to declare their first innings on a massive 517 for nine after lunch.

Resuming on 344 for five on the second day, Southern lost Agha Salman in the first over to pacer, Anwer Ali who finished with impressive figures of 5 for 75 from 25 overs.

Adnan who resumed on 36, however, stayed calm and found an able partner in his captain, Bilawal Bhatti who scored 45 from 65 balls with six fours and a six.

When Sindh came out to bat they were in immediate trouble as left-arm pacer, Zia-ul-Haq bowled beautifully on what appeared an otherwise batting pitch as he got the ball to move late away from the right handers and combined with Adnan Akmal for three dismissals. 

His first victim was Jaahid Ali (6), who was out trying to pull a short pitched ball down the leg-side while later Shehzar Muhammad (5) and Khurram Manzoor (14) were caught behind off big edges.

The seasoned Khurram went after a 45 ball stay at the crease before he also chased one outside the off-stump. 

At 34 for three, Sindh were in dire trouble but left-handers, Saad Ali (56 from 94 balls with seven fours) and the experienced, Fawad Alam (60 from 101 balls with seven fours) produced an unbroken stand of 108 runs to ensure there was no more damage. When stumps were called Sindh were 142 for three.

Zia finished the day on three for 49 but the other Southern bowlers had to struggle as Fawad and Saad scored freely.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa vs Central Punjab:

Mohammad Moshin and Khalid Usman made contributions in both departments to hand Khyber Pakhtunkhwa control of the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy ninth round fixture against Central Punjab at NBP Stadium.

On the second day of the four-day match, their half-centuries helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ranked second on the points table, to put a decent first innings score of 355 all-out before they shared five wickets to have the table-toppers struggling at 154 for five. 

The pair knitted a 119-run ninth-wicket partnership, 112 of which were made on Tuesday, to help the visitors recover from a middle-order collapse which saw them slip to 220 for eight from 152 for two. Both had resumed their innings at the scores of seven.

Khalid Usman, the 33-year-old bowling all-rounder, scored an unbeaten 72 – his 22nd first-class half-century. He cracked six fours and a six in his 104-ball stay at the crease.

Mohsin, from the other end, scored 56 runs from 103 balls, hitting five fours for his first half century of the tournament. 

Khalid and Mohsin took the score to 308 for eight by the end of the 110th over, which bagged Khyber Pakhtunkhwa three points.

Zafar Gohar and Bilal Asif, who picked up four and three wickets on the opening day, failed to add to their wickets’ tally.

It was the leg-spin of Usman Qadir which brought an end to the Khalid-Mohsin partnership. Usman took two wickets for 60 runs.

Mohsin’s leg-spin and Khalid’s slow left-arm orthodox helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa make early inroads when Central Punjab came out to bat as both Central Punjab openers, Ahmed Shehzad (0) and Salman Butt (13), were back in the pavilion with only 28 runs on board.

A 50-run partnership between Mohammad Saad (49) and Umar Akmal (34) denied the spin-duo any further inroads, albeit for a short time.

Khalid finished the day with three wickets for 30 runs in 18 overs, while Mohsin took two wickets for 44 runs in 12 overs.

For Central Punjab, experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal (38 not out) and young Rizwan Hussain (nine not out) will begin the proceedings on Wednesday morning.

Northern vs Balochistan:

Northern were trailing Balochistan by three runs after making 297 runs for the loss of five wickets on day two of the four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy ninth round fixture at UBL Sports Complex.

Northern entered the second day with authority to wrap up the Balochistan innings on 300 in 90.2 overs. The Imran Farhat-led outfit added only 29 runs to their overnight score of 271 for 8 which granted them three batting point. 

Umar Gul, who resumed his innings on 29, scored his third first-class half-century with 51 off 87, hitting eight fours and a six.

For Northern, left-arm paceman Sadaf Hussain and left-arm spinner Nauman Ali, the captain of the side, stood out with the ball taking four and three wickets respectively to add three bowling points to the team’s account.

Umar Amin’s 69 off 83 balls – laced with nine fours and a six – held Northern’s innings together despite Balochistan taking two wickets to have the visitors two down for 78 at Lunch.

In the second session, Gul chipped in to dislodge Faizan Riaz (19). Amin, however, carried on the momentum to stitch a notable stand of 65 runs with Sarmad Bhatti (83 not out) before getting bowled out by Taj Wali, the left-arm pacer’s second wicket of the innings.

An unbeaten 101-run partnership for the sixth-wicket between Sarmad and wicketkeeper-batsman Jamal Anwar (61 not out) had Northern in command when stumps were drawn. Faizan Riaz (19) and Hammad Azam (11) were the other two Northern wickets to fall on the second day.