Daily Times

KARACHI: Kamran Akmal joined his brother Umar in scoring a century in the same innings for Central Punjab against Sindh before their four-day eight-round first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy ended in a draw on day four at the National Stadium on Thursday. Kamran produced a master class of 166 from 212 balls as Central Punjab made 499 for nine in their second innings before the umpires called off the match after tea. His younger brother, Umar had also completed his first century of the ongoing first class-season on Wednesday before he was dismissed for 122 from 128 balls soon after play resumed this morning. Kamran produced a mixture of strong defence and attack as he put on 227 runs for the sixth wicket with Zafar Gohar (75 from 131 balls).

The wicket-keeper batsman hit a total of 26 fours in his 33rd first-class century. The match looked headed for a draw after Kamran and Zafar kept on mounting the runs as the Sindh bowlers struggled to find lateral movement on the pitch. Sindh had to wait till one hour after tea before they broke the big partnership when Anwar Ali had Gohar caught at third man and struck soon after he had Bilal Asif (4) caught behind by Sarfaraz Ahmed. Kamran eventually fell to left-arm-spinner, Amir Ali when he was trapped leg before after his splendid innings and Aizaz Cheema was dismissed by Fawad Alam.

When play resumed this morning with the overnight pair of Umar (117) and Salman Butt (81) looking good and Central Punjab on 207 for two, a result looked a possibility but three wickets fell quickly. Umar was dismissed by Sohail Khan and Tabish Khan struck twice in succession to remove Salman Butt (83) and Usman Salahuddin (10) to leave the visitors in trouble. Kamran and Zafar Gohar than forged their big partnership. Pacer Tabish finished with match figures of seven for 222. At the end of the eight-round, Central Punjab lead the points table with 117 points followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 97 points and Southern Punjab 91 points. Sindh winless in the competition are placed at fifth position with 69 points.

Scores in brief:

Central Punjab 246 all out, 94.3 overs (Kamran Akmal 59, Usman Sallahuddin 57, Ahmed Shehzad 48; Tabish Khan 5-85, Anwer Ali 2-27, Sohail Khan 2-51) and 499 for 9, 125 overs (Kamran Akmal 166, Umar Akmal 122, Salman Butt 83, Zafar Gohar 75; Mohammad Umar 2-87, Anwar Ali 2-89, Tabish Khan 2-137) VS Sindh 339 all out, 100.4 overs (Khurram Manzoor 85, Jahid Ali 72, Fawad Alam 65, Sarfaraz Ahmed 58; Aizaz Cheema 5-81, Bilal Asif 4-73)

Result: Match Drawn