KARACHI: Northern registered their second win in the ongoing Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, when they beat Balochistan by 10 wickets on the fourth and final day of the tournament’s third round at the Abbotabad Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Sindh were just 55 runs away from a win over Southern Punjab before their match ended in a draw, so did the rain-affected fixture between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Central Punjab.

Last year’s player of the tournament, Mubasir Khan, whose all-round performance saw Northern beat Central Punjab in their Trophy opener two weeks ago, was crucial in their second victory as well.

With his off-spin, the 20-year-old took three wickets in Balochistan’s second innings as they managed to give Northern only a 33-run target after being asked to follow-on to their first innings total of 216 in response to 520-8 (decl.). Mubasir registered match figures of 6-68.

Northern chased down the target in just 43 balls after all-rounder Hussain Talat’s unbeaten effort of 115 helped Balochistan to 336, which was just enough for them to avoid an innings defeat.

At the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Omair Bin Yousuf scored an unbeaten 110 and younh opener Saim Ayub missed his maiden century by five runs against Southern Punjab.

Set a 381-run target and resuming the last day at 57-0, Sindh finished at 326-7. Omair’s 110 came off 192 balls while Saim’s 138-ball 95 included 12 fours and two sixes.

For Southern Punjab, Pakistan medium-pacer Mohammad Abbas picked up 3-55, while fellow fast bowler Ahmed Bashir snapped up 2-53.

At Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium, defending champions Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Central Punjab match ended in a draw after one-and-a-half day’s play was lost due to rain and wet outfield.

Following a washed out penultimate day, Central Punjab resumed their first innings at 173-4 in reply to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 220 and the entire side was dismissed for 274. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Khalid Usman (6-86) and Test off-spinner Sajid Khan (4-100) shared the wickets. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were 174-3 at stumps after Sahibzada Farhan raced to his fourth first-class century and remained undefeated on 100. Together with Rehan Afridi (54 not out), Farhan put on 142 runs for the fourth wicket after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had slipped to 32-3.

Scores in brief:

Match drawn between Southern Punjab and Sindh

AFT Southern Punjab 278 in 94.3 overs (Usman Salahuddin 89, Umar Siddiq 47; Abrar Ahmed 5-94) and 283 in 85.5 overs (Zain Abbas 138, Umar Siddiq 42; Abrar Ahmed 6-100); SINDH 181 in 50.2 overs (Mohammad Umar 59; Mohammad Ilyas 5-50) and 326-7 (Omair Bin Yousuf 110 not out, Saim Ayub 95; Mohammad Abbas 3-55)

Northern beat Balochistan by 10 wickets

NORTHERN 520-8 (decl.) in 116 overs (Faizan Riaz 201 not out, Mohammad Huraira 169; Taj Wali 5-91) and 34-0; BALOCHISTAN 216 in 81.1 overs (Asad Shafiq 53, Hussain Talat 48; Mubasir Khan 3-18) and 336 (Hussain Talat 115, Khurram Shahzad 59; Mubasir Khan 3-50)

Match drawn between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Central Punjab

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 220 in 77.4 overs (Waqar Ahmed 58; Usama Mir 6-91) and 174-3 (Sahibzada Farhan 100 not out, Rehan Afridi 54 not out); CENTRAL PUNJAB 274 (Abid Ali 66, Abdullah Shafique 51; Khalid Usman 6-86, Sajid Khan 4-100).

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2022