KARACHI: Sindh’s Sarfraz Ahmed recorded his 13th first-class hundred as their Quaid-i-Azam Trophy against Northern ended in a high-scoring draw here at the National Stadium on Thursday.

After Sindh resumed their innings at 345-5 on the fourth and final day of the ninth-round fixture, Sarfraz went on to score 102 off 131 balls, hitting 11 fours and a six in his knock before falling to spinner Mubasir Khan.

The former Pakistan skipper notched up a 218-run sixth-wicket stand with Omair Bin Yousuf, who smashed 17 fours for his 150 off 293 balls before Sindh were bowled out for 476.

Northern captain and left-arm spinner Nauman Ali took five wickets for 130 while Mubasir finished with 3- 65.

With a 129-run lead after they had posted a mammoth first innings total of 605-8 (decl.), Northern managed 101 more runs, losing just one wicket before the match was drawn.

Opener Mohammad Huraira followed his first innings century with an unbeaten 58 off 66 balls (eight fours). Umar Amin scored 41. Zahid Mehmood took the only wicket to fall in Northern’s second innings.

At Lahore’s LCCA Ground, Balochistan resumed their first innings at 219-4. They lost their last six wickets for the addition of 99 runs to concede a 31-run lead.

Hussain Talat fought hard with an unbeaten 76 off 103 balls (eight fours, four sixes). Left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar completed his five-wicket haul, ending the innings with figures of 5-94. Off-spinner Bilal Asif took three wickets.

Central Punjab batters Abdullah Shafique and Mohammad Saad registered unbeaten half-centuries as the match ended in a draw. Abdullah who is the leading run-scorer of the ongoing season scored 55 off 126 balls (eight fours) while Saad contributed 57 off 143 (five fours, one six). Kashif Bhatti with 1-40 was the only wicket-taker for Balochistan.

The remaining fixture of the round, between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Southern Punjab, was completely washed out due to relentless rain in Abbotabad.

Summarised scores:

Match drawn between Sindh and Northern

NORTHERN 605-8 (decl.) in 154.5 overs (Mohammad Huraira 173, Umar Amin 140, Hasan Raza 135; Zahid Mehmood 4-185, Abrar Ahmed 3-231) and 101-1 in 26 overs (Mohammad Huraira 58 not out, Umar Amin 41; Zahid Mehmood 1-28 ); SINDH 476 in 144.4 overs (Omair Bin Yousuf 150, Sarfaraz Ahmed 102; Nauman Ali 5-130, Mubasir Khan 3-65)

Match drawn between Central Punjab and Balochistan

CENTRAL PUNJAB 349 in 96.5 overs (Qasim Akram 111, Faheem Ashraf 60; Akif Javed 4-97, Kashif Bhatti 2-59) and 126-1 in 49 overs (Mohammad Saad 57 not out, Abdullah Shafique 55 not out; Kashif Bhatti 1-40); BALOCHISTAN 318 in 99.3 overs (Imran Butt 80, Hussain Talat 76 not out; Zafar Gohar 5-94, Bilal Asif 3-64)

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2022