Pace trio put Rawalpindi on top as Islamabad collapse

KARACHI: Rawalpindi earned a handy 36-run lead on the first innings after fine bowling from pace of trio of Nasir Malik, Akhtar Ayub and Haseeb Azam saw Islamabad suffer a batting collapse on the second day of the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship final in Lahore on Monday.

After adding only seven runs to their overnight tally of 204-7, Rawalpindi bounced back to reduce Islamabad from a healthy position of 85-1 to 175 all out in 64.4 overs at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Batting briefly, openers Shoaib Nasir and Adnan Mahmood played two overs safely Rawalpindi reached stumps at 0-0 in their second innings.

Islamabad needed only 3.4 overs to claim the remaining three Rawalpindi wickets in the morning.

Zahid Mahmood departed without adding to his Sunday score of 60 when his 168-ball innings ended with Junaid Nadir winning a leg-before-wicket verdict against the bearded right-hander.

Fellow seamer Mudassar Ali then picked up the wickets of wicket-keeper Talha Qureshi and last man Akhtar Ayub on successive deliveries to end the Rawalpindi innings.

Both Junaid and Mudassar finished with four wickets apiece, giving away 49 and 67 runs, respectively.

Afaq Raheem, who toured Sri Lanka with the Pakistan Test squad in 2012, led the early scoring for Islamabad before seeing his opener Zeeshan Ali dismissed leg-before-wicket by Nasir.

Ali Sarfraz (24 off 48 balls, two fours) helped Afaq put on 64 for the second wicket before Haseeb sent back Ali to offset Rawalpindi’s dominance thereafter.

In the space of 17 runs Islamabad lost three wickets, including that of skipper Imad Wasim who was bowled by Nasir for one.

Islamabad suffered a massive jolt when had the well-set Afaq was trapped in front of the stumps by Akhtar for 85. The 28-year-old opening batsman hit 13 boundaries during his 158-ball innings in a stay of 225 minutes.

All-rounder Sarmad Bhatti (29 off 73 balls, five fours) and Shehzad Azam Rana, who limped off the field on Sunday with a side strain, were the only other Islamabad batsmen to enter double figures. Shehzad remained unbeaten on 17 when Nasir took the last two wickets in three balls.

Nasir, the championship’s highest wicket-taker, captured four wickets for 68 runs in 23.4 overs, Akhtar grabbed three for 55 in 20 overs and Haseeb two for 41 from 17 overs.—Khalid H. Khan

Scoreboard

RAWALPINDI (1st Innings, overnight 204-7):

Shoaib Nasir c Kashif b Shehzad 0

Adnan Mahmood b Mudassar 12

Haseeb Azam lbw b Shehzad 0

Naved Malik c Kashif b Mudassar 33

Babar Naeem c Kashif b Junaid 0

Muzammil Nizam lbw b Junaid 10

Awais Zia lbw b Mudassar 76

Zahid Mansoor lbw b Junaid 60

Talha Qureshi c Junaid b Mudassar 5

Akhtar Ayub not out 1

Nasir Malik not out 0

EXTRAS (B-8, W-3, NB-3) 14

TOTAL (all out, 86.4 overs) 211

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-0, 3-48, 4-49, 5-49, 6-60, 7-199, 8-205, 9-211.

BOWLING: Shehzad Azam Rana 8-5-8-2; Junaid Nadir 23.2-8-49-4 (1w); Mudassar Ali 25.5-12-67-4; Imad Wasim 14-2-37-0 (2nb); Sarmad Bhatti 10.3-2-23-0 (1w); Moed Ahmed 5-1-19-0 (1nb, 1w).

ISLAMABAD (1st Innings):

Afaq Raheem lbw b Akhtar 85

Zeeshan Ali lbw b Nasir 1

Ali Sarfraz c Zahid b Haseeb 24

Faizan Riaz c Talha b Akhtar 4

Imad Wasim b Nasir 1

Moed Ahmed lbw b Haseeb 4

Sarmad Bhatti c and b Babar 29

Mohammad Kashif b Akhtar 0

Shehzad Azam Rana not out 17

Junaid Nadir c Zahid b Nasir 2

Mudassar Ali c Talha b Nasir 0