KARACHI, Oct 25: Sialkot emerged as first winners of the opening-round matches in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship when they trounced Lahore Ravi by an innings and 52 runs inside three days at the LCCA Ground in Lahore on Friday.

Already defeat staring in their face at stumps on day two when they were forced to follow on, Lahore Ravi doubled their first-innings score before their second innings ended at 220 after having resumed the day on 11-0.

First-class debutant Adnan Danish, batting at No 8, struck 60 off 95 balls with 12 boundaries, while wicket-keeper Zeeshan Ali made a patient 50 (140 balls, six fours). The wickets were shared by slow left-armer Nabeel Malik (4-98 in 27 overs) and leg-spinning all-rounder Mansoor Amjad (3-30) as Sialkot secured nine points.

Meanwhile, Rawalpindi and Karachi Whites were also closing in on victories after enforcing follow-on on Bahawalpur and Lahore Shalimar, respectively.

Replying to Rawalpindi’s huge tally of 536-7 declared at the Dring Stadium in Bahawalpur, the home team were shot out for 151 after starting the third day at 103-6. Pacemen Haseeb Azam and Akhtar Ayub grabbed four wickets each.

Batting again, Bahawalpur put up a gutsy performance to reach 166-3 at stumps thanks to a fine century partnership between Faisal Mubashir (42) and Adeel Basit (86 not out off 160 balls, 12 fours) who added 111 for the third wicket before the former was run out.

The hosts still though could end up with a big defeat on Saturday’s final day of the four-day tie since they need another 219 runs to make Rawalpindi bat again.

Lahore Shalimar require 48 runs with just three wickets standing to prevent Karachi Whites from recording an innings victory at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore after crashing to 112-7 in the second innings with slow left-armer Fahim Ahmed quashing their hopes with four wickets thus far.

Lahore Shalimar, earlier, had been dismissed for 270 after resuming their first innings at the overnight score of 135-6. Fahim and former Pakistan Under-19 leg-spinner Shahzaib Ahmed shared six wickets between them.

Abbottabad earned a slender 24-run lead on the first innings after restricting Karachi Blues to 343 here at the National Stadium. The visitors further extended their advantage by closing the penultimate day at 56-2 to lead by 80.

The Blues, overnight 167-4, were indebted to Ashraf Ali and Faraz Ahmed Khan for taking them close to the Abbottabad total. Remarkably, Ashraf, a 31-year-old right-handed batsman who made his first-class debut 12 seasons ago, reached a maiden half-century as he carried his Thursday’s score of 49 to 96 in just his 20th appearance at this level. But after striking 12 boundaries while negotiating 148 balls, Ashraf fell to Aziz-ur-Rehman.

Faraz made a valiant 86 off 164 deliveries while stroking a dozen boundaries.

Quetta were 283-8 in response to Hyderabad’s 435 at the Niaz Stadium with Taimur Khan contributing 110 (188 balls, 11 boundaries) in what was the 22-year-old’s maiden first-class hundred after the visitors began the day 42-0.

Veteran Zeeshan Butt also reached three figures as Faisalabad extended their Thursday’s total of 104-3 to 350-7 in reply to Multan’s 427 at the Iqbal Stadium. The 35-year-old’s 240-ball knock was laced with 13 fours.

Close of play scores and result on Friday (day three of four):

Group-I:

At National Stadium, Karachi:

ABBOTTABAD 367 in 110 overs (Rehan Afridi 139 not out, Mohammad Naeem 75, Khalilullah Khan 53, Umair Khan 44; Faraz Ahmed Khan 3-81) and 56-2 in 18 overs (Mohammad Naeem 30 not out; Waqar Anwar 2-2); KARACHI BLUES 343 in 115 overs (Ashraf Ali 96, Faraz Ahmed Khan 86, Behram Khan 41, Naved Khan 40; Aziz-ur-Rehman 3-84).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: Sialkot beat Lahore Ravi by an innings and 52 runs.

SIALKOT 382 in 106.3 overs (Mansoor Amjad 59, Faisal Khan 57, Naved Sarwar 50, Adnan Zaheer 43; Adnan Danish 4-103, Aleem Yousuf 3-98); LAHORE RAVI 110 in 43.2 overs (Hasan Ali 4-32, Adnan Ghaus 3-35) and 220 in 75.5 overs (Adnan Danish 60, Zeeshan Ali 50; Nabeel Malik 4-98, Mansoor Amjad 3-30).

At Dring Stadium, Bahawalpur:

RAWALPINDI 536-7 declared in 120 overs (Naved Malik 127, Shoaib Nasir 112, Zahid Mansoor 102 not out); BAHAWALPUR 151 in 54.1 overs (Haseeb Azam 4-17, Akhtar Ayub 4-52) and 166-3 in 59.3 overs (Adeel Basit 86 not out, Faisal Mubashir 42).

Group-II:

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore:

KARACHI WHITES 430 in 118.2 overs (Fazal Subhan 155, Asif Zakir 114, Shahzaib Ahmed Khan 61 not out; Waqar Ahmed 4-104); LAHORE SHALIMAR 270 in 82.1 overs (Waqas Saleem 60, Umar Siddique 56, Junaid Ali 49; Fahim Ahmed 3-50, Shahzaib Ahmed Khan 3-82) and 112-7 in 42 overs (Fahim Ahmed 4-22).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad:

HYDERABAD 435 in 139.4 overs (Faisal Athar 143, Mir Ali Talpur 75, Shoaib Leghari 61, Zafar Ali 60; Shahzad Tareen 5-111, Faizullah 3-86); QUETTA 283-8 in 109 overs (Taimur Khan 110, Badar Ali 41; Nasir Awais 3-91).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad:

MULTAN 427 in 125 overs (Usman Liaquat 176, Waqar Hussain 51; Adnan Munir 5-101); FAISALABAD 350-7 in 122 overs (Zeeshan Butt 102, Hasan Mahmood 47, Abdul Mannan 44; Shahbaz Hussain 4-70).