Hussain and Shan hammer tons to put Southern Punjab in driving seat

KARACHI: A maiden double-century by Hussain Talat and 15th first-class century by Test opener Shan Masood put Southern Punjab in a commanding position against a hapless Northern on the second day of the four-day first round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture at the National Bank of Pakistan Complex here on Monday. Hussain, playing his 41st first-class match, clubbed 33 fours and six sixes in a 310-ball 253, while Shan belted 17 fours in a 185-ball 134 as Southern Punjab declared their first innings at 507 for nine in reply to Northern’s 165 after starting the second day’s proceedings at the overnight score of 174 for one. When stumps were called for the day, Northern, 342 runs in arrears, were jolted by Test fast bowler Mohammad Abbas (two for 13) as they finished at 31 for three and facing the prospects of an innings defeat as they still require 311 runs to make Southern Punjab bat again. Shan and Hussain, who resumed on 80 and 53 runs, respectively put on 185 runs for the second wicket, while Hussain added another 63 runs for the seventh wicket with Bilawal Bhatti (31). Hussain occupied the crease for over five hours and reached his century from 149 balls with 14 fours and two sixes. His double-century came off 237 balls with 28 fours and four sixes. For Northern, their captain Nauman Ali returned figures of four for 153, while Athar Mehmood bagged three for 86.

An interesting match was developing at the National Stadium where Fawad Alam was leading Sindh’s fightback against defending champions Central Punjab in the broadcast match being produced by the Pakistan Cricket Board. After Central Punjab added two more runs to their overnight score of 205 for nine to be bowled out for 207 in 86.4 overs, they hit back to reduced Sindh to 113 for six before Fawad Alam fought gallantly to see his side to 196 for six from 80 overs at stumps, still 11 runs behind. Fawad, who has added 83 runs for the unfinished seventh wicket with Tabish Khan (17 not out), has been batting for over four hours for his 90 not out in which he has faced 265 balls off which seven have been converted into fours. The Sindh batsmen back in the hut included Khurram Manzoor (35), Omair Bin Yousuf (12), Saud Shakeel (0), Asad Shafiq (8), Sarfaraz Ahmed (10) and Hasan Mohsin (8) as Ahmed Bashir and Waqas Maqsood returned two for 46 and two for 49, respectively.

At the UBL Sports Complex, fast bowler Khurram Shahzad and Test spinner Yasir Shah combined to bundle out Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for a modest 167 in 46.5 overs to help Balochistan secure a 195-run first innings lead. When play ended Balochistan, who scored 362 in the first innings, had reached 34 for one to lead Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by 229 runs with nine second innings wickets intact. Khurram recorded figures of 10-2-27-5, his fourth five-fer in 21th match, while Yasir Shah had figures of 17.5-2-94-4 that took his career first-class wickets to 584. For Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khalid Usman (57 not out), Kamran Ghulam (42) and Sajid Khan (27) were the notable run-scorers.

Earlier, Balochistan resumed their first innings at the overnight score of 310 for seven and were dismissed for 362 in 110.2 overs. Bismillah Khan, who began at 102, was out after scoring 118, an innings that came off 242 balls and included 13 fours. Together with Khurram Shahzad (37), Bismillah added 52 runs for the eighth wickets. For Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sajid Khan snapped up three for 96, while Junaid Khan, Ahmed Jamal and Imran Khan Snr took two wickets apiece.

Scores in brief after day two of four:

1: At the NBP Complex, Northern won the toss and elected to bat first: Northern (1st innings) 165 all out, 48.4 overs (Faizan Riaz 29, Umar Amin 29, Sarmad Bhatti 25, Hammad Azam 24, Zeeshan Malik 24; Zahid Mahmood 4-41, Salman Ali Agha 3-34) and 31-3 (Faizan Riaz 1 not out, Asif Ali 4 not out, Mohammad Abbas 2-13) VS Southern Punjab (1st innings) 507-9d , 113.1 overs (Hussain Talat 253, Shan Masood 134, Umar Siddique 40, Bilawal Bhatti 31; Nauman Ali 4-153, Athar Mehmood 3-86)

2: At the NSK, Sindh won the toss and elected to bowl first: Central Punjab (1st innings) 207 all out, 86.4 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 69, Mohammad Saad 51, Kamran Akmal 24; Tabish Khan 5-44) VS Sindh (1st innings) 196-6, 80 overs (Fawad Alam 90 not out, Khurram Manzoor 35; Ahmed Bashir 2-46, Waqas Maqsood 2-49)

3: At the UBL Sports Complex, Balochistan won the toss and elected to bat first: Balochistan 362 all out, 110.2 overs (Bismillah Khan 118, Kashif Bhatti 98, Sami Aslam 56, Khurram Shehzad 37; Sajid Khan 3-96, Junaid Khan 2-53, Ahmed Jamal 2-70, Imran Khan Snr 2-72) and 34 for one (Sami Aslam 15 not out, Khurram Shahzad 4 not out) VS Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (1st innings) 167 all out, 46.5 overs (Khalid Usman 57 not out, Kamran Ghulam 42, Sajid Khan 27; Khurram Shahzad 5-27, Yasir Shah 4-94).