Azan Awais surpassed the 500-run milestone in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy on his way to registering a maiden double-century as Sialkot defeated Peshawar by an innings and 57 runs with a day to spare in the triangular stage match at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.
Azan carried his bat for an unbeaten 203 after resuming the third day’s play at 161. Sialkot were eventually bowled out for 410, having started the day at 319 for six and adding another
91 runs to their overnight total in reply to Peshawar’s 171.
Trailing by 239 runs on the first innings, Peshawar were routed for 182 with fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar proving to be the destroyer-in-chief with figures of six for 51. This gave him match figures of eight for 101. Mohammad Ali also used the conditions to his advantage by following up his four for 35 with three for 43.
For Peshawar, only Sajjad Ibraheem (42) and Niaz Khan (35) offered some resistance.
Azan, the 20-year-old opener, batted for just over nine-and-a-half hours, facing 407 deliveries and striking 27 fours. Azan’s remarkable performance took his tournament tally to 518 runs, placing him second only to Multan’s Imam-ul-Haq, who has 635 runs. With Multan not participating in the triangular stage, Azan has an excellent chance to finish as the leading run-scorer of the competition.
Azan’s innings featured three noteworthy partnerships on Wednesday. On Thursday, he added another 60 runs for the seventh wicket with Usama Mir, who contributed 29 off 57 balls, including five fours. Later, he put on 40 runs for the eighth wicket with Mohammad Ali (16) to further consolidate Sialkot’s advantage.
Mohammad Amir Khan was the standout bowler for Peshawar, claiming his second five-wicket haul of the tournament. He added the scalp of last man Shoaib Akhtar to return figures of 40.1-4-141-5, taking his tally to 26 wickets in the event. This places him in joint-third among the leading wicket-takers, alongside Lahore Whites’ Ahmed Bashir. Islamabad’s Musa Khan leads the charts with 38 wickets, followed by Lahore Blues’ Mohammad Abbas and Bahawalpur’s Mehran Sanwal, who have 31 wickets each.
Israrullah and Niaz Khan chipped in with two wickets apiece, conceding five and 101 runs, respectively.
Scores in brief (day 3 of 4): Sialkot beat Peshawar by an innings and 57 runs, Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad.
Peshawar 171 all out, 46.1 overs (Ubaidullah 35, Zubair Khan 23, Mohammad Amir Khan 21, Abuzar Tariq 20; Mohammad Ali 4-35, Awais Ali 4-73, Shoaib Akhtar 2-50) and 182 all-out, 34.4 overs (Sajjad Ibraheem 44, Niaz Khan 35, Zubair Khan 25, Abuzar Tariq 22; Shoaib Akhtar 6-51, Mohammad Ali 3-43).
Sialkot 410 all-out, 133.1 overs (Azan Awais 203 not out, Mohsin Riaz 64, Ashir Mehmood 31, Usama Mir 29, Abdul Rehman 28; Mohammad Amir Khan 5-141, Israrullah 2-5, Niaz Khan 2-101).