Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A total of 23 wickets fell on the second day of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy first round match between Rawalpindi and Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) at Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi on Wednesday. KRL resumed their first innings at 56-0 but ended up losing all their wickets for the addition of just 75 more runs as Rawalpindi’s Mazahar Hussain took four wickets for 42, Attaullah took three for 35 and Haseeb Azam took two for 27. But Rawalpindi fared little better, with their entire line-up mustering only 139 runs in 46 overs as KRL’s Shaheen Shah took eight wickets for 39. At the end of play, KRL were 8-3 after 3.4 overs in their second innings.

In the other Pool B match, Hammad Azam (115) scored an unbeaten century for United Bank Limited (UBL) against Karachi Whites to help his side reach 392-7 at the end of second day at UBL Ground in Karachi. Umar Saddique chipped in with 70 to help UBL take a lead of 184 runs. At Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot, Faheem Ashraf and Junaid Khan took three wickets each to help Habib Bank Limited (HBL) restrict FATA at 178 in their first innings as former Pakistan pacer Umar Gul claimed two scalps for 35 runs. At the end of play, HBL were 171-2 with a lead of 251 runs.

At the LCCA Ground in Lahore, Waqas Ahmed took five wickets to help Lahore Whites restrict PTV at 161 in their first innings as Muhammad Irfan Junior took three for 26 runs. At the end of play, Lahore Whites were 181-3, enjoying a lead of 264 runs. Meanwhile, in a Pool A match at Diamond Ground in Islamabad, Ziaul Haq took four wickets to help Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) restrict Islamabad at 189 in their first innings as Kashif Bhatti and Muhammad Irfan took two wickets each. At the end of play, SSGC had made 51 without loss in their second innings, giving them an overall lead of 172 runs.

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium in Abbottabad, Sui Northern Gas Pipe Lines’ (SNGPL) Sami Niazi took four wickets for 50 runs to restrict Peshawar team at 203. He was well supported by Shadab Khan, who took three for 23. At the end of play, SNGPL were batting in their second innings on 131-5 with a lead of 135 runs.

The Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore saw Pakistan WAPDA’s Hussain Shah take four for 59 with Waqas Maqsood and Muhammad Irfan taking two each to restrict Lahore Blues at 198. At the end of play, WAPDA were batting on 41-1, with a lead of 140 runs under their belt. At Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, the hosts resumed their first innings on 276-8 and stretched their score to 361 before losing their all 10 wickets. At the end of play, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were batting on 171-1 in their first innings, with Hamza Paracha (73) and Ali Asad (46) on the crease.

Published in Daily Times, September 28^th 2017.