KARACHI: Najeebullah Achak­zai took his maiden first-class five-wicket haul help Balochistan grab a 16-run first-innings lead over Southern Punjab and Saud Shakeel and Omair Bin Yousuf struck centuries to boost Sindh against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the third day of the fourth round of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy on Monday.

Najeebullah, 31, registered figures of 5-90 in his first outing of the season as Southern Punjab were bowled out for 330 after resuming the day at the Abbotabad Cricket Stad­i­um at 109 in response to Balo­chistan’s first-innings total of 346.

Najeebullah dismissed Umar Siddiq (17), Sharoon Siraj (73), Mohammad Imran Randhawa (53), Ali Usman and Ahmed Bashir. Sharoon’s 132-ball 73 included 12 fours while Usman Salahuddin was the innings’ top scorer with 88.

By the close of the day’s play, Balochistan were 36-1.

At the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Saud and Umair saw Sindh secure a 105-run lead over defending champions Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a day after veteran opener Khurram Manzoor had hit a quickfire 130-ball 116 to provide his side a solid start.

Saud, who started the day at 43 and Omair, who began at 5, scored 105 runs apiece and put on 144 runs for the third wicket after Sindh had resumed their innings at 214-2 in reply to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 384.

Saud faced 251 balls and hit 13 fours in his second century of the season and 13th overall, while Omair smashed eight boundaries and six in his second successive century.

Lower-order cameos by wicket-keeper Mohammad Hasan (47) and pacer Asif Mahmood (31) added 60 runs for the seventh wicket to help Sindh finish the day at 489-9.

For Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Test off-spinner Sajid Khan picked up 3-127, while Ihsanullah added one more wicket to his overnight tally to finish with 3-108.

At Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium, Northern responded fittingly to Central Punjab’s first-innings score of 509 as Sarmad Bhatti smashed an unbeaten century while Faizan Riaz, Mubasir Khan and Umar Amin hit half centuries to take Northern 425-4. Northern had commenced their day at 107-1.

By the close of the day’s play Sarmad was batting on 102 with all-rounder Mubasir Khan playing on 70 on the other end.

In his 217-ball knock so far, Sarmad hit 11 fours while Mubasir’s innings included 10 boundaries and a six. The duo has put on 124 runs for the fifth wicket.

Northern opener Mohammad Huraira added nine more runs to his overnight score and was dismissed for 62, while Umar scored 68 after beginning the day at 35. Faizan, who was coming into the match on the back of a double-century, was out after scoring a 167-ball 74 with nine fours.

Scores in brief:

Northern trail by 84 runs against Central Punjab

CENTRAL PUNJAB 509-9 (decl.) in 140 overs (Azhar Ali 219, Tayyab Tahir 114; Mehran Mumtaz 3-111, Nauman Ali 3-173); NORTHERN 425-4 (Sarmad Bhatti 102 not out, Faizan Riaz 74; Ahmed Safi Abdullah 2-95)

Sindh lead by 105 runs against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 384 in 115.2 overs (Mohammad Sarwar Afridi 148, Kamran Ghulam 93; Mohammad Umar 4-87, Abrar Ahmed 4-130); SINDH 489-9 in 137 overs (Khurram Manzoor 116, Saud Shakeel 105; Ihsanullah 3-108, Sajid Khan 3-127)

Balochistan lead by 52 runs against Southern Punjab

BALOCHISTAN 346 in 127 overs (Asad Shafiq 106, Ali Waqas 45; Sameen Gul 5-84, Muhammad Imran Randhawa 3-75) and 36-1; SOUTHERN PUNJAB 330 in 96.5 overs (Usman Salahuddin 88, Sharoon Siraj 73; Najeebullah Achakzai 5-90, Kashif Bhatti 2-78, Khurram Shehzad 2-83).

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2022