LAHORE: Mohammad Huraira’s fourth century of the season saw Northern strengthen their position in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy final against Sindh here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Sunday.

In response to Sindh’s first-innings total of 284, Northern ended the second day of the fixture at 296-2, thanks to Huraira’s unbeaten 193 of 202 balls.

The 20-year-old, who is on course to be named the highest run-getter of the Quaid Trophy for the second season in a row with 966 runs, was ably assisted by captain Umar Amin, who was not out after a 145-ball 79.

The duo combined for a 269-run partnership for the third wicket after Northern had lost opener Hasan Raza and Abdul Faseeh to Sindh pacer Mohammad Umar to find themselves reeling at 2-27 nearly nine overs into the innings.

Two wickets was all Sindh could manage on the day before Umar and Huraira played shots at will and looked unbeatable. Huraira brought up his 100 in just 118 balls before reaching the 150-run mark in 161 deliveries. He smashed 29 fours and two sixes in his innings while Umar plundered the Sindh bowlers for 11 fours.

Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 230 for seven, Sindh could only add 54 more runs as they were bowled out for 284 in 92.5 overs.

Bowling all-rounder Asif Mehmood was the pick of the batters for Sindh, hitting nine fours and two sixes in his 111-ball 78 before being dismissed by pacer Musa Khan.

The other Sindh batters to fall on Sunday were Aaliyan Mehmood and Shahnawaz Dahani, both succumbing to all-rounder Aamor Jamal’s pace.

Pakistan Test discard Fawad Alam returned undefeated on 61 off 148 balls, smashing eight fours. Aamir and Musa bagged three wickets each, while off-spinner Mubasir Khan, who was named player of the tournament last year, registered figures of 2-59.

Scoreboard

SINDH: (1st innings, overnight) 230-7

Khurram Manzoor c Rohail b Musa 16

Saim Ayub b Musa 29

Saad Khan c Rohail b Aamer 35

Omair Yousuf lbw b Mubasir 36

Fawad Alam not out 61

Danish Aziz lbw b Kashif 3

Mohammad Hasan run out 0

Mohammad Umar c Mehran b Mubasir 5

Asif Mehmood c Kashif b Musa 78

Aaliyan Mehmood c Rohail b Aamer 4

Shahnawaz Dahani b Aamer 0

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-5, NB-2, W-8) 17

TOTAL (all out, 92.5 overs) 284

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-44 (Khurram), 2-62 (Saim), 3-112 (Saad), 4-128 (Omair), 5-145 (Danish), 6-145 (Hasan), 7-151 (Umar), 8-267 (Asif), 9-284 (Aaliyan)

BOWLING: Kashif 22-6-53-1 (2nb), Aamer 18-1-76-3 (5w), Musa 19-2-61-3 (3w), Mubasir 26-9-59-2, Mehran 6.5-1-26-0, Umar 1-0-2-0

NORTHERN: (1st innings)

Mohammad Hurraira not out 193

Hasan Raza c Saad b Umar 14

Abdul Faseeh b Umar 0

Umar Amin not out 79

EXTRAS (LB-6, NB-1, W-3) 10

TOTAL (for two wickets, 63 overs) 296

STILL TO BAT: Mubasir Khan, Aamer Jamal, Rohail Nazir, Umar Waheed, Mehran Mumtaz, Muhammad Musa, Kashif Ali

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-23 (Hasan), 2-27 (Faseeh)

BOWLING: Umar 13-2-56-2 (1nb), Shahnawaz 16-3-84-0 (3w), Asif 10-1-55-0, Aaliyan 13-1-53-0, Danish 7-0-34-0, Fawad 2-1-5-0, Saim 2-0-3-0

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2022