KARACHI: Faisal Khan propped up Sialkot with a defiant century as the visitors totalled 236 in their first innings against Karachi Blues on the opening day of the second-round Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-II cricket tour­nament match at the TMC Ground here on Wednesday.

Faisal’s unbeaten 160-ball innings contained 13 boundaries after the visitors decided to bat first upon winning the toss in the Pool ‘B’ game at the TMC Ground. Off-spinner Ashiq Ali was the standout performer for Karachi Blues with figures of six for 68.

By close of play, Karachi Blues were 57-1 in 17 overs with Jaahid Ali hitting six fours in his undefeated knock of 33.

Hyderabad were 51-2 after bowling out Dera Murad Jamali, who elected to bat first, for 183 at the KCCA Stadium with the left-arm spin duo of Nauman Ali (5-54) and Kashif Bhatti (3-64) sharing the bowling honours.

In the Pool ‘A’ clash at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan, Abbottabad advanced to 77-2 after their decision to field saw Quetta totalling just 172 in their first innings. Kamran Ghulam starred with left-arm spin to grab five wickets for 44 runs.

Bahawalpur in the more at 66-5 after Azad Jammu Kashmir reached 222 all out in their first innings after they put into bat at the Dring Stadium in Bahawalpur.

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

Second round:

Pool ‘A:

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: QUETTA 172 in 59.4 overs (Bismillah Khan 47; Kamran Ghulam 5-44); ABBOTTABAD 72-2 in 28 overs.

At Dring Stadium, Bahawalpur: AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 222 in 68.3 overs (Daniyal Allah Ditta 44, Sardar Hasan Raza 34, Usman Maroof 32, Raja Farhan 32; Jahanzaib Khan 6-70, Imranullah Aslam 3-49); BAHAWALPUR 66-5 in 19 overs (Salman Irshad 3-21).

 Pool ‘B’:

At KCCA Stadium, Karachi; DERA MURAD JAMALI 183 in 72.4 overs (Najeebullah 42, Nasir Khan 33; Nauman Ali 5-54, Kashif Bhatti 3-64); HYDERABAD 51-2 in 20 overs (Azeem Ghumman 34).

At TMC Ground, Karachi: SIALKOT 236 in 71.2 overs (Faisal Khan 102 not out, Nauman Anwar 48; Ashiq Ali 6-68); KARACHI BLUES 57-1 in 17 overs (Jaahid Ali 33 not out).

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2018