KARACHI: Sahibzada Farhan and Kamran Ghulam struck centuries to take Peshawar to 330-2 in the first innings of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fifth-round clash against Lahore Whites here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.

Responding to Lahore Whites’ first innings total of 568, Sahibzada (171) and Kamran (112) were unbeaten at the close of play on the third day, having resumed at 76-1.

Elsewhere, Karachi Whites were 19-0 in their final innings chase of an imposing 432 set by Multan at Rawalpindi’s Shoaib Akhtar Stadium.

Multan made hay while batting in their second innings before they were dismissed for 405 with Sharoon Siraj (83), Mohammad Imran (75), Hamayun Altaf (73) and Imran Rafiq (70) all scoring half-centuries as Karachi Whites’ bowlers toiled.

Faisalabad, meanwhile, need only two wickets on Saturday to beat Fata in their clash at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.

Over at the Pindi Stadium an undefeated 137 by Taimur Khan gave Rawalpindi some breathing space against Lahore Blues.

After Lahore Blues shot down their opponents for 176 in the first innings and then posted 396, Rawalpindi were 302-8 at the close of play in their second innings thanks to Taimur’s innings.

Resuming their second innings at 128-5, Irfan Khan Niazi’s unbeaten 68 propelled Faisalabad to 220-9, setting a victory target of 308 for Fata, who slumped to 156-8 in their chase.

Brief scores:

Peshawar trail Lahore Whites by 238 runs in their first innings at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore:

LAHORE WHITES 568 all out in 161.2 overs (Ahmed Shahzad 253; Ali Zaryab Asif 141; Mehran Ibrahim 5-57); PESHAWAR 330-2 in 102 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 171 not out, Kamran Ghulam 112 not out).

Karachi Whites need 415 runs in their second innings to beat Multan at Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi:

MULTAN 220 all out in 50.2 overs (Mohammad Basit 60, Ali Usman 57; Tabish Khan 3-40, Mir Hamza 3-54) and 405 all out in 134 overs (Sharoon Siraj 83, Mohammad Imran 75, Hamayun Altaf 73, Imran Rafiq 70; Aaliyan Mehmood 4-89); KARACHI WHITES 194 all out in 64.2 overs (Saim Ayub 40, Tabish Khan 38 not out, Mir Hamza 36; Zahid Mahmood 5-69, Ali Usman 4-50) and 19-0 in seven overs.

Rawalpindi lead Lahore Blues by 82 runs in their second innings at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi:

LAHORE BLUES 396 all out 99.3 overs (Hussain Talat 104, Junaid Ali 102; Kashif Ali 6-86, Mohammad Awais Anwar 3-109); RAWALPINDI 176 all out in 50.2 overs (Mehran Mumtaz 40; Nisar Ahmed 4-55, Ali Shafiq 3-55) and 302-8 in 93 overs (Taimur Khan 137 not out, Sardar Hasan Raza 50; Hunain Shah 3-47)

Faisalabad are two wickets away from victory against Fata at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium:

FAISALABAD 215 all out in 79.5 overs (Faheem Ashraf 76; Asif Afridi 3-37) and 220-9 in 62 overs (Irfan Khan Niazi 68 not out, Taimoor Sultan 52; Asif Afridi 4-49); FATA 128 all out in 43.4 overs (Mohammad Sarwar Afridi 35; Khurram Shahzad 6-23) and 156-8 in 58 overs (Mohammad Sarwar Afridi 59, Samiullah 49; Mohammad Abubakr Khan 3-26).

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2023