KARACHI: Mohammad Abbas sent another strong reminder to the national selectors on Tuesday with a brilliant seven-wicket burst as Sialkot shot out Faisalabad for 125 on day one of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-II semi-final.

Faisalabad, however, hit back with four quick wickets before Sialkot recovered to 101-5 to trail by just 24 runs at draw of stumps. Mohammad Irfan Jr, who made some impact with the ball during the recent PSL with Lahore Qalandars, slammed a 36-ball 35 (seven boundaries) and the in-form Ayaz Tasawwar (27 not out) put on 59 for the fifth wicket to lead the fightback.

But the story of an eventful opening day of this three-day fixture here at the National Stadium was the outstanding exhibition of seam bowling from Abbas who ripped the hearts out of Faisalabad batting line-up led by Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq after Sialkot captain Abdur Rehman won the toss on a greenish pitch.

After picking up the wicket of Abubakar Khan (12) from the Pavilion End, Abbas switched ends to the Scoreboard End with devastating results. The 27-year-old — the country’s leading wicket-taker over the past two first-class seasons with 132 victims, including a rich haul of 71 this season that ultimately forced the selectors to induct him in the 31-man training camp which was setup in Lahore prior to the national limited-overs squads departure for the ongoing West Indies — finished with seven for 38 in 14 overs to put himself in contention for the Test series in the Caribbean.

In his first spell from the Scoreboard End, Abbas bagged five wickets for 17 runs, including the prized scalp of Misbah who was trapped in front by an unplayable delivery that nipped back sharply.

Misbah, who 32 off 46 balls with three boundaries in a stay of 106 minutes, might have perished very early but umpire Rashid Riaz reprieved the 42-year-old by not giving him out after the veteran right-hander had gloved a catch off ex-Pakistan seamer Mohammad Asif, who had earlier sent back both openers inside the first 26 minutes of play.

Rashid then further enraged the Sialkot camp later in the day by erroneously declaring out Mansoor Amjad caught behind to a ball from paceman Naseer Akram which missed the bat by a distance.

At one stage Faisalabad were in serious danger of being bowled for less than 100 when their eighth wicket fell at 61. But former international Samiullah Khan Niazi with little batting pedigree struck 42 off 78 balls with six fours to add some respectability to the tally.

Meanwhile, Multan were dismissed for 260 in their first innings of the second semi-final against Hyderabad at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Opener Zain Abbas compiled 110 off 193 balls with seven fours after Multan captain Zulfiqar Babar chose to bat first at the toss.

Slow left-armer Nauman Ali grabbed six for 56 in 32 overs while off-spinner Nasir Awais, who opened the bowling, took 3-121 in 32.2 overs before Hyderabad collected 39-2 by close of play.

Close of play scores in other semi-final (day one of three):

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: MULTAN 260 in 82.2 overs (Zain Abbas 110, Gulraiz Sadaf 31, Imran Rafiq 30, Abdul Rehman Muzammil 29; Nauman Ali 6-56, Nasir Awais 3-121); HYDERABAD 39-2 in 10 overs (Haris Khan 16 not out).

Scoreboard

FAISALABAD (1st Innings):

Ali Rafiq c Kaleem b Asif 2

Abdul Samad c Kaleem b Asif 1

Abubakar Khan b Abbas 12

Misbah-ul-Haq lbw b Abbas 32

Khurram Shehzad c Kaleem b Abbas 9

Usman Arshad c Mansoor b Abbas 0

Ali Shan c Naeemuddin b Rehman 16

Ahmed Safi c Ayaz b Abbas 0

Ehsan Adil lbw b Abbas 4

Samiullah Khan Niazi b Abbas 42

Naseer Akram not out 4

EXTRAS (B-2, NB-1) 3

TOTAL (all out, 49 overs) 125

FALL OF WKTS: 1-1, 2-8, 3-16, 4-47, 5-48, 6-57, 7-57, 8-61, 9-101.

BOWLING: Mohammad Asif 11-2-32-2 (1nb); Mohammad Abbas 14-1-38-7; Mohammad Irfan 14-7-20-0; Abdur Rehman 10-1-33-1.

SIALKOT (1st Innings):

Naeemuddin c Ali b Samiullah 5

Mansoor Amjad c Ali b Naseer 2

Naved Sarwar c Khurram b Ehsan 10

Saif Badar lbw b Ehsan 9

Mohammad Irfan Jr c Misbah b Khurram 35

Ayaz Tasawwar not out 27

Ahsan Bhatti not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-11, NB-2) 13

TOTAL (for five wkts, 27 overs) 101

FALL OF WKTS: 1-6, 2-16, 3-20, 4-33, 5-92.

TO BAT: Kaleem Ahmed, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Asif.

BOWLING (to-date): Samiullah Khan Niazi 10-1-33-1 (2nb); Naseer Akram 7-3-13-1; Ehsan Adil 5-0-30-02; Ahmed Safi 3-0-5-0; Khurram Shehzad 2-0-9-1.

UMPIRES: Khalid Mahmood and Rashid Riaz.

MATCH REFEREE: Ahmer Saeed.

OFFICIAL SCORER: Salman Hussain Kazmi.

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2017