KARACHI: The battle to reach triangular stage from Group ‘A’ of the PCB Inter-region Under-19 (Three-day) Cricket Tournament intensifies on Sunday when Faisalabad hit back strongly to put themselves in sight of victory against Quetta.

On the penultimate day of the fifth and final round clash at the SBP Sports Complex, Quetta were in deep trouble at 42-5 in their second innings after Faisalabad ended their first innings 19 runs behind the Quetta score.

Karachi Blues, the other side in contention from the pool, saw Larkana collect a creditable 209-8 in the second innings after the hosts earn a slim lead of 27 runs on the first at the NBP Sports Complex.

Close of play scores on Sunday (day two of three):

Fifth round:

Group ‘A’:

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: QUETTA 270-7 in 83 overs (Abdul Nasir 109 not out, Israr Ahmed 54, Munir Ahmed 35, Hazrat Wali 24; Mashal Khan 2-19, Qamar Abbas 2-69) and 42-5 in 21.5 overs (Shahid Khan 3-6); FAISALABAD 251 in 81.4 overs (Mohammad Saleem 70, Ali Raza 42, Abdul Samad 39, Shahid Khan 35, Mishal Khan 29; Imran Khan 7-74).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: LARKANA 131 in 59.4 overs (Ayaz Ali 38; Mohammad Zahid 4-35, Asher Qureshi 4-46) and 209-8 in 87 overs (Ahsan Sultan 64, Ayaz Ali 48, Mohammad Aqeel 33; Mohammad Ali Khan 2-30, Asher Qureshi 2-56); KARACHI BLUES 158 in 42 overs (Asher Qureshi 69, Tauseeq Ahmed 21; Ali Hyder 4-15, Nadir Ali 3-57, Kamran Ali 2-42).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: HYDERABAD 182 in 61 overs (Ibtesam 34, Saud Jaffri 29, Saad Khan 23, Azhar Abbas 22; Zaid Alam 4-40, Wasim Khan 3-45, Ahmed Shafiq 2-50) and 140-5 in 56 overs (Uzair Jaffri 69, Mohammad Suleman 39); LAHORE BLUES 201 in 66.7 overs (Zaid Alam 39, Zaryab Asif 39, Mohammad Ayyan 34, Basit Ali 33; Ibtesham Sheikh 6-35, Asad Malik 3-64).

Group ‘B’:

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: LAHORE WHITES 223 in 75.1 overs (Ahmed Zulfiqar 69, Attyab Ahmed 46, Uzair Nasir 43, Waqas Ali 22; Mohammad Ilyas 5-37, Saifullah 2-58) and 49-2 in 18 overs (Ahmed Zulfiqar 26; Saifullah 2-16); PESHAWAR 372 in 79.1 overs (Nabi Gul 136, Mohammad Mohsin Khan 66, Alam Zeb 46, Azam Khan 46, Mukhtar Ahmed 24; Waqas Ali 4-58, Usman Abid 3-73).

At Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala: SIALKOT 413-7 declared in 79 overs (Abdullah Shafiq 110, Aashir Hafeez 98, Saif Badar 70, Abdur Rehman 37, Momin Waqar 31; Mohammad Haroon 3-64, Imran Khan 2-100); RAWALPINDI 249 in 75.3 overs (Nasir Nawaz 124, Muzammil Inayat 39, Imran Khan 39; Taimoor-ul-Hasan 3-36, Saqib Ali 3-70, Athar Mahmood 3-76) and 32-0 in 21 overs.

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: DERA MURAD JAMALI 142 in 52 overs (Usama Razzaq 40, Mohammad Shahid 30; Ali Aslam 4-28, Faraz Khan 3-45, Umar Sadiq 2-20) and 188-6 in 76.2 overs (Usama Razzaq 66, Shoaib Ahmed 55, Shahzada Khan 22; Ahmed Sultan 2-15, Ali Aslam 2-36); MULTAN 242 in 81.3 overs (Mohammad Faizan 61, Faraz Khan 42, Ahmed Sultan 32, Munib-ur-Rehman 25, Umar Sadiq 21; Saeed Ahmed 4-51, Rasool Bakhsh 3-68).

Group ‘C’:

At National Ground, Islamabad: FATA 298 in 82.2 overs (Mohammad Khayyam 83, Mohammad Ishaq 47, Maaz Khan 37, Muhammad Daud 36; Shayan Sheikh 3-66) and 52-4 in 18 overs (Abdul Raheem 22; Mohammad Musa 2-15); ISLAMABAD 269 in 80.5 overs (Shaharyar Liaquat 98, Sajawal Riaz 47, Syed Muzammil Shah 30, Abu Hurraira 25 not out; Mohammad Tahir 4-74, Haider Ali 3-63).

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur: KARACHI WHITES 384-8 declared in 73.1 overs (Azam Khan 129, Haider Abbas 55, Kashif Patel 51 not out, Mohammad Hassaan Khan 41, Ibrar Ahmed 39, Ahmed Alam 21; Syed Faizan Tahir 4-89, Osama 3-116) and 264-8 declared in 32.2 overs (Ammad Alam 140, Mohammad Zubair 100 not out; Osama Fazil 2-71); AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 108 in 50.5 overs (Badar Mukhtar 23, Zohaib Bukhari 23; Ibrar Ahmed 5-42, Nihal Rasheed 2-8, Mohammad Hassaan Khan 2-43) and 52-7 in 17 overs (Badar Mukhtar 21; Nihal Rasheed 2-7, Mohammad Hassaan Khan 2-22).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: BAHAWALPUR 262 in 75.1 overs (Sheron Siraj 61, Mohammad Shaharyar 60, Mohammad Umair 45, Umar Abbasi 32; Arshad Iqbal 4-65, Mansoor Ali Khan 3-45, Bilal Shah 2-63) and 43-1 in 18 overs; ABBOTTABAD 254-9 in 83 overs (Basit Khan 100 not out, M. Mohsin Khan 54, Mansoor Ali Khan 31, Arshad Iqbal 23; Shayan Khalil 2-49, Sheram Khan 2-77).

Published in Dawn October 3rd, 2016