LAHORE: Southern Punjab found themselves in a spot of bother against Northern at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, as they trailed by 117 — after asked to follow-on — at the close of the third day of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2022-23 on Thursday. Southern Punjab could manage only 269 in 86.2 overs after Northern posted a mammoth 529 for five yesterday as no batter, except Zain Abbas, who made a gutsy 120 in 229 balls (15 fours and a six), put up a fight. Northern captain Nauman Ali —- who took four wickets for 73 runs in the Southern Punjab’s first innings — removed Zain. Youngsters Musa Khan and Mehran Mumtaz took two wickets each for 51 and 63. Southern Punjab, 143 for two, will resume second innings with Usman Salahuddin and Imran Rafiq unbeaten on 40 and 34. All-rounder Mubasir Khan, who played an integral role in Northern’s big total smashing 170 not out, accounted for both openers – Umar Siddiq (35) and Zain (32). Northern have now accumulated nine points in the match (five points for crossing the 400-run barrier in 100 overs batting first, three for taking eight or more wickets and one for bowling out an opposition under 300). At the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Fawad Alam scored his 42nd first-class century, returning unbeaten on 127 as Sindh mustered 368 all out in reply of Central Punjab’s 428. The left-handed middle-order batter smashed 14 fours in his 186-ball innings. Sarfaraz Ahmed (78 off 124, eight fours) fell 22 runs short of a century as Mohammad Ali, who took four wickets for 84 runs, dismissed him. Central Punjab, 170 for four in the second innings, had stretched their lead to 230 with double-centurion of the previous innings Abdullah Shafique (72 not out off 151) on song. Abdullah had the company of Tayyab Tahir, who is unbeaten on 61, gathered in 115 balls. The two added 111 runs for the fifth wicket. Balochistan added four more points to make it eight after bowling out Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for 291 in 85.4 overs at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Kamran Ghulam, undefeated overnight, scored 102 off 171 and Khalid Usman, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa captain, made 43 off 87. Balochistan’s Khurram Shahzad picked up four wickets for 67. Balochistan had an imposing lead of 289 as they closed the day on 107 for four. Hussain Talat and Ali Waqas batted at 27 and 12. Brief scores: 1: Northern choose to bat against Southern Punjab at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad Northern 529-5d, 133 overs (Mubasir Khan 170 not out, Abdul Faseeh 151, Umar Amin 89, Sarmad Bhatti 81; Hassan Khan 3-94, Ali Usman 2-143) vs Southern Punjab 269 all out, 86.2 overs (Zain Abbas 120, Salman Ali Agha 36, Hassan Khan 34; Nauman Ali 4-73, Musa Khan 2-51, Mehran Mumtaz 2-63) and 143-2, 45 overs (Usman Salahuddin 40 not out, Umar Siddiq 35, Imran Rafiq 34 not out, Zain Abbas 32; Mubasir Khan 2-40) Innings points —- Northern (nine), Southern Punjab (three) 2: Toss uncontested —- Sindh opt to bowl against Central Punjab at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi Central Punjab 428 all out, 102.2 overs (Abdullah Shafique 232, Aamer Yamin 70; Mir Hamza 3-72, Asif Mehmood 3-128) and 170-4, 62 overs (Abdullah Shafique 72 not out, Tayyab Tahir 61 not out: Asif Mehmood 3-31) vs Sindh 368 all out, 85.5 overs (Fawad Alam 127 not out, Sarfaraz Ahmed 78, Saim Ayub 71, Saad Khan 30; Mohammad Ali 4-84, Aamer Yamin 3-80) Innings points —- Central Punjab (eight), Sindh (seven) 3: Toss uncontested —- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa opt to bowl against Balochistan at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium Balochistan 473 all out, 123 overs (Azeem Ghumman 78, Kashif Bhatti 71, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai 69, Ali Waqas 59, Haseebullah 53, Khurram Shahzad 47; Arshad Iqbal 4-114, Mohammad Sarwar Afrid 2-55, Ihsanullah 2-104) and 107-4, 38 overs (Azeem Ghumman 28, Hussain Talat 27, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai 22; Arshad Iqbal 2-19) vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 291 all out, 85.4 overs (Kamran Ghulam 102, Khalid Usman 43, Rehan Afridi 35; Khurram Shahzad 4-67, Kashif Bhatti 2-43, Akif Javed 2-87) Innings points —- Balochistan (eight), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (four).