KARACHI: Faisalabad’s Ahmed Safi Abdullah spun Multan into a fix, while FATA’s Sameen Gul destructed Rawalpindi to put their teams on top in their respective Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches on Monday.

Left-armer Ahmed took eight wickets as Multan — who started the second day of the match at 142-2 — came crumbling down to 233 at the Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

The 25-year-old had claimed his first two victims on the opening day of the season on Sunday.

Faisalabad, however, also struggled with the bat. They were 90-4 at one point before Pakistan international Asif Ali smashed a 50-ball 62, with the knock featuring 12 fours and two sixes.

The hard-hitting right-hander was not out along with Ahmed on the other end as the day’s play closed with Faisalabad’s score reading 178-5.

Spinners Ali Usman and Zahid Mahmood took two wickets each for Multan after Faisalabad opener Mohammad Hurarira was run out.

Sameen was almost equally as lethal as Ahmed to help FATA reduce Rawalpindi to 129-8 after his team had posted 318 in the first innings, thanks to Mohammad Sarwar’s 76 off 107 balls. FATA had started the day at 196-5.

Sameen got rid of Rawalpindi openers Hasan Raza and Abdul Faseeh before returning to hurt the middle-order and register figures of 6-41 in 12 overs.

The right-armer’s fellow pacer Irfanullah Shah bagged two scalps.

SARFRAZ RESCUES KARACHI

At the Abbotabad Cricket Stadium, former Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed boosted Karachi Whites to 332 against Peshawar after they had opened the day at 267-6.

The veteran’s gritty 66 off 113 balls included five boundaries as he got decent support from Abrar Ahmed, with the tailender contributiing 21 off 26.

The Karachi outfit was able to get an advantage in the match as they took five Peshawar wickets, giving away 231 runs, most of which came due to a 127-run partnership between openers Sahibzada Farhan (85 off 90) and Israrullah (59 off 137). Ghulam Mudassar took two wickets for Karachi.

In the all-Lahore fixture between the regions Blues and Whites sides at the Gaddafi Stadium, Saad Nasim’s century for the latter was the highlight of the day.

After Lahore Blues added just 21 runs to their overnight score of 227-6, Saad hit 103 off 172 balls coming in at number five.

The right-hander smashed 10 fours and a six during his innings while Hamza Akbar’s 38 also came in handy for the side as they ended the day at 254-7.

Pacers Ali Shafique and Hunain Shah and spinner Kashif Bhatti bagged two wickets each for the Blues.

Scores in brief:

Faisalabad trail by 55 runs against Multan

MULTAN 233 in 80.4 overs (Zain Abbas 65; Ahmed Safi Abdullah 8-62, Khurram Shehzad 1-33); FAISALABAD 178-5 in 50 overs (Asif Ali 62; Ali Usman 2-36, Zahid Mehmood 2-59)

Lahore Whites lead by six runs against Lahore Blues

LAHORE BLUES 248 in 81.3 overs (Hussain Talat 61, Junaid Ali 52; Ahmed Bashir 4-23, Aamir Jamal 3-65); LAHORE WHITES 254-7 in 72 overs (Saad Nasim 103 not out, Ahmed Shahzad 44; Ali Shafiq 2-44, Kashif Bhatti 2-48)

Peshawar trail by 101 runs against Karachi Whites

KARACHI WHITES 332 in 103.4 overs (Khurram Manzoor 87, Asad Shafiq 70; Mohammad Ilyas 4-85, Sajid Khan 3-61); PESHAWAR 231-5 in 65 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 85, Israrullah 59; Ghulam Mudassar 2-28)

Rawalpindi trail by 189 runs against FATA

FATA 318 in 92.1 overs (Mohammad Usman 99, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi 76; Bilawal Bhatti 4-89, Mehran Mumtaz 2-49, Mubasir Khan 2-55); RAWALPINDI 129-8 in 42 overs (Mubasir Khan 42, Abdul Faseeh 41; Sameen Gul 6-41, Irfanullah Shah 2-14)

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2023