KARACHI: Pakistan Test cricketers Sarfraz Ahmed and Asad Shafiq smashed centuries on Tuesday to put Karachi Whites in a strong position against Faisalabad in their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match in Rawalpindi.

Building on their overnight score of 203-5 with both veterans at the crease on the third day of the second-round fixture, Asad accumulated an unbeaten 108 while Sarfraz hit 128 not out, carrying their team to a mammoth first-innings total of 434-5.

The scoreboard pressure on Fais­alabad was perfectly utilised by the Karachi bowlers, who reduced their opponents to 63-6 by the close of play.

Pacer Aftab Ibrahim, who is on his first-class debut, snapped up three Faisalabad wickets while fellow fast bowlers Mir Hamza and Ghulam Mudassar claimed one and two victims, respectively.

At the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, a 107-run partnership between Rawa­lpindi openers Hasan Raza and Abdul Faseeh helped them make a decent start in response to Lahore Whites’ first-innings score of 407-3 (declared).

While Hasan was the first to fall after contributing 43 runs, Faseeh went on to hit 113 and stayed unbeaten by the close of play -- which was called after only 63 overs were bowled due to rain.

First drop Ashfaq Ahmed at the crease with Faseeh with 51 not out against his name.

In the other match at Rawalpindi, Kamran Ghulam hit a century to help Peshawar post 263 in their first innings against Multan.

The Pakistan discard played a knock of 117 runs, which included 15 fours and six.

Kamran’s was the only major contribution coming from the Peshawar batters as pacer Sirajuddin took four wickets for Multan.

In Abbottabad, Lahore Blues began their day at 83-3 against Fata, with Qasim Akram and Hussain Talat at the crease.

While Hussain was removed shortly after, Qasim’s half-century helped his side’s cause.

A half-century by Waqas Ahmed and a 49 by Junaid Ali further helped Imran Butt’s men to post 314 on the board, getting a lead of 174 runs.

Fata, already behind in the game, lost four early wickets and found themselves in deep trouble.

Khushdil Shah and Salman Khan Jr began the rebuilding job and by the end of the day, two had produced an unbeaten partnership of 79 runs as Fata posted 127-4.

Scores in brief:

Lahore Whites vs Rawalpindi

LAHORE WHITES 407-3 declared in 100.3 overs (Ali Zaryab Asif 182, Ahmed Shahzad 102; Kashif Ali 2-88, Munir Riaz 1-75); RAWALPINDI 232-1 in 63 overs (Abdul Faseeh 113 not out, Ashfaq Ahmed 51 not out; Mohammad Irfan 1-74)

Karachi Whites vs Faisalabad:

KARACHI WHITES 434-5 declared in 114 overs (Sarfaraz Ahmed 128 not out, Asad Shafiq 108 not out; Mohammad Ali 2-82, Khurram Shahzad 2-124); FAISALABAD 63-6 in 27 overs (Mohammad Huraira 19; Aftab 3-14, Ghulam Mudassr 2-16)

Peshawar vs Multan:

PESHAWAR 263 in 82.3 overs (Kamran Ghulam 117, Abbas Ali 34; Sirajuddin 4-45, Majid Ali 3-41)

FATA vs Lahore Blues:

FATA 140 in 49.1 overs (Salman Khan Jnr 40, Mohammad Wasim Khan 23; Hunain Shah 3-22, Hussain Talat 2-28) and 127-4 in 34 overs (Salman Khan Jnr 66 not out, Khushdil Shah 37 not out; Waqas Ahmed 2-37); LAHORE BLUES 314 in 73.3 overs (Waqas Ahmed 53, Qasim Akram 51; Aimal Khan 3-82, Akif Javed 3-85).

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2023