KARACHI: Opener Mohsin Khan starred with 127 as Peshawar reached 328-5 in their first innings against Azad Jammu Kashmir on the opening day of the PCB Under-19 Inter-region (Three-day) Cricket Championship on Wednesday.

The exact namesake of the stylish Pakistan opening batsman of the late 1970s and 1980s, the latest Mohsin struck 18 boundaries and one six during 217-ball knock in the Group ‘A’ fixture at the SBP Sports Complex.

Mohsin put on 109 for the first wicket with skipper Waqar Ahmed (52) before adding a further 149 for the third wicket with Saqib Jamil (90, 10 fours and one six).

Azad Jammu Kashmir ended the day at 6-0 after six overs.

Karachi Blues bounced back to reduce Fata to 119-5 after being dismissed for 216 at the UBL Sports Complex.

Fata skipper Shahenshah Afridi excelled with figures of 5-55 in 15.5 overs with his left-arm seamers but his good work was wasted in the second half of the day.

Hyderabad were reeling at 47-4 after Rawalpindi posted 189 at the Hyderabad’s Niaz Stadium.

Abbottabad recovered from 172-7 to post 297 against Larkana in their Group ‘B’ game at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. After left-arm paceman Ghulam Mohammad (5-80 in 27 overs) had taken four wickets upfront, number eight Mansoor Ali smashed an 83-ball 88 with nine fours and four sixes.

Larkana were 19-0 at draw of stumps.

The remaining two Group ‘B’ fixtures were curtailed by fickle weather with Lahore Blues collecting 107-1 in 32 overs against Faisalabad at the LCCA Ground in Lahore and Quetta fighting back from being 117-4 to make 214-6 versus Bahawalpur at the Lahore Country Club in Muridke.

The Group ‘C’ clash between Sialkot and Karachi Whites saw day one being abandoned without a ball being delivered at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.

Multan leg-spinner Mohammad Jahangir picked up eight wickets for 40 in 17.1 overs to send Lahore Whites crashing to 166 all out at the Gymkhana Cricket Ground in Okara.

But the Lahorites hit back to dismiss Multan for 81 in 29.2 overs before extending their overall lead to 86 at close of play.

Paceman Zain-ul-Abedin grabbed 6-51 as Islamabad restricted Dera Murad Jamali to 140 at the Diamond Club Ground before the hosts folded up for 143 in reply with skipper Rohail Nazir contributing 89.

Close of play scores on Wednesday (day one of three):

First round:

Group ‘A’:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: KARACHI BLUES 216 in 50.5 overs (Mohammad Zubair 48, Ashar Qureshi 40, Taha Mahmood 39; Shahenshah Afridi 5-55, Umar Khan 3-44, Hamza Khan 2-19); FATA 119-5 in 39 overs (Mohammad Khayyam 43, Mohammad Ishaq 36; Ashar Qureshi 2-28).

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: PESHAWAR 328-5 in 83 overs (Mohsin Khan 127, Saqib Jamil 90, Waqar Ahmed 52; Zohaib Bukhari 2-87); AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 6-0 in 6 overs.

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: RAWALPINDI 189 in 70.1 overs (Zaid Khan 65; Hasan Ali 5-60, Saad Khan 4-37); HYDERABAD 47-4 in 17 overs (Munir Riaz 3-7).

Group ‘B’:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE BLUES 107-1 in 32 overs (Ibtisam-ul-Haq 52 not out, Uzair Nasir 34 not out) vs FAISALABAD.

At Lahore Country Club, Muridke: QUETTA 214-6 in 72 overs (Abdul Nasir 59, Hidayatullah 45, Israr Ahmed 43; Naved Malik 2-31, Mohammad Junaid 2-50) vs BAHAWALPUR.

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: ABBOTTABAD 297 in 83 overs (Mansoor Ali 88, Umar Sadiq 61, Danish Sarhadi 42; Ghulam Mohammad -5-80, Nadir Ali 2-61, Aamir Ali 2-64); LARKANA 19-0 in 5 overs.

Group ‘C’:

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: SIALKOT vs KARACHI WHITES — no play due to rain.

At Gymkhana Cricket Ground, Okara: LAHORE WHITES 166 in 52.1 overs (Umar Amjad 40, Ramis Mustafa 34; Mohammad Jahangir 8-40, Zaheer Islam 2-43) and 1-0 in 0.5 over; MULTAN 81 in 29.2 overs (Usman Shafiq 24; Danish Butt 4-28, Hannan Zahid 3-25).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: DERA MURAD JAMALI 140 in 31 overs (Mohammad Shahid 52, Mohammad 49 not out; Zain-ul-Abedin 6-51, Musa Khan 2-17, Abu Hurraira 2-33) and 33-0 in 10 overs; ISLAMABAD 143 in 43.3 overs (Rohail Nazir 89; Zahid Ali 4-18, Saeed Ahmed 3-26).

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2017