KARACHI: Karachi Blues and Sialkot cantered to emphatic two-day wins by innings in their respective Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-II Cricket Tournament matches on Thursday.

Fast bowler Zohaib Shera grabbed 12 wickets in the Group ‘A’ fixture at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan as Karachi Blues crushed Quetta by an innings and 16 runs.

Sialkot overpowered Dera Murad Jamali by an innings and 54 runs in the Group ‘B’ encounter at the Marghazar Cricket Ground in Islamabad on the penultimate day of the three-day game.

Left-armer Zohaib followed up his 5-19 in Quetta’s first innings of 72 on Wednesday by grabbing seven wickets for 52 runs as Quetta made a better feast of their second innings by reaching 208 all out.

Opener Shahzad Tareen batted defiantly to score 90 in 334 minutes with his 208-ball knock featuring 13.

Skipper Rameez Raja Jr, in contrast, played an electrifying innings of 58 from 45 deliveries with the aid of seven fours and four sixes.

Zohaib finished with match bag of 12-71 in 21.5 overs.

Earlier, Karachi Blues closed their first innings at 296-9 with wicket-keeper Saifullah Khan Bangash completing a half-century (52 off 66 balls, eight boundaries).

Dera Murad Jamali were no match for the powerful Sialkot side as Ali Khan bludgeoned run-a-ball 169 not out with 20 boundaries and three sixes as Sialkot posted 385-7 declared after resuming day two at 169-4.

Beginning their second innings after having conceded a lead of 244 on the first, Dera Murad Jamali were dismissed for 190 in 61 overs.

Hasan Raza Jr struck an unbeaten 84 as Azad Jammu Kashmir collected 160-4 after Abbottabad had secured a lead of 182 on the first innings by totalling 292 at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

Multan were also in strong position when they restricted Bahawalpur to 230 all out and obtained a healthy lead of 135 at the Dring Stadium in Bahawalpur.

Pakistan spinner Zulfiqar Babar picked up six wickets for 49 runs in 28.4 overs before Multan reached 103-1 in their second innings to have an overall lead of 238.

Close of play scores and results on Thursday (day two of three):

Group ‘A’:

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: Karachi Blues beat Quetta by an innings and 16 runs.

QUETTA 72 in 23.4 overs (Abdul Hannan 33 not out; Zohaib Shera 5-19, Mohammad Asghar 3-4, Sohail Khan 2-33) and 208 in 69.5 overs (Shahzad Tareen 90, Rameez Raja Jr 58, Bismillah Khan 31; Zohaib Shera 7-52); KARACHI BLUES 296-9 declared in 67.2 overs (Saeed bin Nasir 98, Saifullah Khan Bangash 52, Akbar-ur-Rehman 51, Sohail Khan 39; Gohar Faiz 3-77, Irfanullah 2-38, Sher Ali 2-69).

At Dring Stadium, Bahawalpur: MULTAN 365-5 declared in 81 overs (Zain Abbas 185 not out, Saeed Anwar Jr 110, Ammar Ali 43; Muzammil Tehsin 2-93, Imranullah Aslam 2-99) and 103-1 in 22 overs (Zain Abbas 54 not out, Saeed Anwar Jr 37 not out); BAHAWALPUR 230 in 73.4 overs (Zeeshan-ul-Haq 61, Rafay Ahmed 47, Mohammad Wasim 31; Zulfiqar Babar 6-49).

Group ‘B’:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 110 in 49.2 overs (Mohammad Fahad 26; Ikramullah Khan 4-23, Fakhar Zaman 3-7, Ahmed Jamal 2-24) and 160-4 in 59 overs (Hasan Raza Jr 84 not out; Fazle Rabbi 2-29, Ikramullah Khan 2-45) ABBOTTABAD 292 in 63.2 overs (Riaz Kail 59, Khalilullah 59, Fawad Malook 51, Ikramullah Khan 28, Sajjad Ali 26; Shadab Majeed 3-74, Abdul Shakoor 3-84, Fahad Arif 2-59).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: Sialkot beat Dera Murad Jamali by an innings and 54 runs.

DERA MURAD JAMALI 141 in 49.4 overs (Nasir Khan 36, Adil Pathan 32; Abdur Rehman 5-24, Mohammad Kamran 5-46) and 190 in 61 overs (Sajid Hussain 42, Nasir Khan 40; Mohammad Kamran 3-62, Atiq-ur-Rehman 2-9, Abdur Rehman 2-22, Mohammad Abbas 2-43); SIALKOT 385-7 declared in 69 overs (Ali Khan 169 not out Naeemuddin 60, Salman Ali 45, Abdur Rehman 43, Kaleem Ahmed 32 not out; Zahoor Ahmed 3-80, Nasir Khan 2-77).

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2016