Daily Times

ABBOTTABAD: Ashfaq Ahmed’s unbeaten 81 helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to 160 for two on day two of their four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match against Southern Punjab at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium before play had to be called-off early due to bad light on Tuesday. The right-handed batsman cracked his third half-century of the tournament and stitched a crucial 73-run partnership for the second-wicket with Sahibzada Farhan (47 off 97) to provide Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a solid foundation after they had lost their first wicket with just eight runs on the board. Ashfaq, to date, has faced 133 balls out of which 12 have gone for boundaries. He was joined by Adil Amin (21) at the other end when stumps were drawn. The pair has, so far, put 79 runs together for the third-wicket.

Earlier, Southern Punjab added 95 runs to their overnight score before they were all-out for 338 in 100.3 overs. Middle-order batsman Sohaib Maqsood, resuming his innings at 38, scored his 25th half-century in first-class cricket. The right-handed batsman scored 57 off 88 balls, hitting nine fours. His overnight partner Salman Ali Agha added 43 more runs to his score before falling five runs short of a half-century. Ahmed Jamal, the right-arm medium-fast bowler, continued to spearhead Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s bowling attack and took another three wickets on Tuesday to return six for 93.

Scores in brief:

Southern Punjab 338 all-out, 100.3 overs (Umar Siddiq 88, Sohaib Maqsood 57, Salman Ali Agha 45, Sami Aslam 38, Zeeshan Ashraf 25; Ahmed Jamal 6-93, Junaid Khan 2-89) VS Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 160-2, 41 overs (Ashfaq Ahmed 81, Sahibzada Farhan 47, Adil Amin 21).