Daily Times

Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar claimed 10 wickets in a match as the three-day non-first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture between Central Punjab and Southern Punjab ended in an exciting draw at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Monday. The former Test spinner followed up his five for 103 with five for 94 to spin Central Punjab out for 177 in their second innings. This set Southern Punjab, which had conceded an 80-run first innings lead, a victory target of 258 runs. However, Southern Punjab finished at 146 for six after slipping to 112 for six. Naved Yasin top scored with 50, while Zeeshan Ashraf (34) and Zia-ul-Haq 28 not out) were the other batsmen of note for the Southern.

For Central Punjab, Aizaz Cheema took three wickets for 26 runs, while Ahmed Safi Abdullah bagged two wickets for 49 runs to end with up with a nine-wicket haul. The other two matches petered into dull draws. At the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi, Northern preferred to bat whole to finish their second innings at 156 for five after starting at 15 for two. Hasan Raza top-scored with 75 (164b, 3×4, 1×6), while Shehzad Azam scored 48 (164b, 3×4, 1×6). The two batsmen added 121 runs for the third wicket. At the NBP Sports Complex in Karachi, Balochistan, after conceding a 52-run first innings lead, declared their second innings close to the end of the match at 227 for nine with Gulraiz Sadaf scoring 73 not out (138b, 8×4, 1×6) and Taimur Ali hitting 56 (202b, 5×4). Sindh, set a 175-victory target, finished the day at 25 for no wicket.

Scores in brief:

1: Northern v Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi

Northern 282-8 dec, 83 overs (Faizan Riaz 156 not out, Jamal Anwar 41, Umair Khan 31; Khalid Usman 5-70) and 156-5, 70 overs (Hasan Raza 75, Shehzad Azam 48; Ahmed Jamal 2-22, Khaliq Usman 2-49) VS Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 246 all-out, 80.2 overs (Mohammad Naeem Snr 108, Mehran Ibrahim 47; Raza Hasan 7-55, Shehzad Azam 3-66)

Result: match drawn

2: Central Punjab v Southern Punjab, Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad

Central Punjab 253 all out, 83 overs (Mohammad Akhlaq 135, Ali Zaryab 38, Irfan Khan Niazi 34; Zulfiqar Babar 5-103, Agha Salman Ali 3-45) and 177 all-out, 53.2 overs (Mohammad Irfan Khan 37, Bilawal Iqbal 30, Zahid Mansoor 28; Zulfiqar Babar 5-94, Mohammad Irfan Jnr 2-14) VS Southern Punjab 173 all-out, 76.4 overs (Naved Yasin 57, Salman Ali Agha 24, Zulfiqar Babar 20; Ahmed Safi Abdullah 7-77, Aizaz Cheema 2-15) and 146-6, 49 overs ((Naved Yasin 50, Zeeshan Ashraf 34, Zia-ul-Haq 28 not out; Aizaz Cheema 3-26, Ahmed Safi Abdullah 2-49)

Result: match drawn

3: Sindh v Balochistan, NBP Sports Complex, Karachi

Balochistan 183 all out, 70.1 overs (Awais Zia 71, Nazar Hussain 21, Ramiz Raja 20; Hassan Khan 4-34, Danish Aziz 2-40) and 227-9d, 112.5 overs (Gulraiz Sadaf 73 not out, Taimur Ali 56, Akbar-ur-Rehman 44, Awais Zia 25; Danish Aziz 3-42, Jahid Ali 2-6, Hassan Khan 2-72) VS Sindh 235 all-out, 72.5 overs (Saifullah Bangash 72 not out, Rameez Raja Jnr 48, Mohammad Waqas Jnr 23; Jalat Khan 3-52, Shahzad Tareen 2-26, Nazar Hussain 2-41, Gohar Faiz 2-53) and 25-0, eight overs

Result: match drawn.