KARACHI: Promising opener Saim Ayub scored his maiden first-class century to help Karachi Whites draw against Multan in their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fifth-round match on Saturday.

Saim, who made his T20 international debut for Pakistan earlier this year, was playing his first fixture of the ongoing domestic season after returning from a successful Caribbean Premier League campaign.

The explosive left-hander, who had scored 40 in the first innings, smashed 142 with 12 fours and a six in the second as Karachi Whites’ pursuit for 432-run ended with the scoreboard reading 243-3 as stumps were called for the final day at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

In the round’s other matches, Lahore Blues beat Rawalpindi by seven wickets and Faisalabad registered a 126-run victory over Fata. The clash between Lahore Whites and Peshawar was drawn as the latter’s Sahibzada Farhan hit a double century.

Farhan accumulated 245 off 429, hitting 28 fours and four sixes as Peshawar posted 589 in the match’s second last innings at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Kamran Ghulam was Peshawar’s next best scorer with 154, while Mohammad Rameez Jr bagged six wickets for Lahore Whites.

At Rawalpindi’s Pindi Cricket Stadium, Lahore Blues chased down a 126-run target losing only three wickets after Taimur Khan (166 not out off 232) had led Rawalpindi to a second-innings score of 345.

In Abbotabad, Fata were bundled out for just 181 runs in their pursuit of a 308-run target against Faisalabad as pacer Khurram Shehzad took four wickets.

Scores in brief:

Match drawn between Lahore Whites and Peshawar

LAHORE WHITES 568 in 161.2 overs (Ahmed Shahzad 253; Ali Zaryab Asif 141; Mehran Ibrahim 5-57); PESHAWAR 589 in 174.3 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 245, Kamran Ghulam 154, Niaz Khan 89; Mohammad Rameez Jr 6-221)

Match drawn between Multan and Karachi Whites

MULTAN 220 in 50.2 overs (Mohammad Basit 60, Ali Usman 57; Tabish Khan 3-40, Mir Hamza 3-54) and 405 in 134 overs (Sharoon Siraj 83, Mohammad Imran 75, Hamayun Altaf 73, Imran Rafiq 70; Aaliyan Mehmood 4-89); Karachi Whites 194 in 64.2 overs (Saim Ayub 40; Zahid Mahmood 5-69, Ali Usman 4-50) and 243-3 in 82 overs (Saim Ayub 142 not out, Khurram Manzoor 41)

Lahore Blues beat Rawalpindi by seven wickets.

LAHORE BLUES 396 in 99.3 overs (Hussain Talat 104, Junaid Ali 102; Kashif Ali 6-86, Mohammad Awais Anwar 3-109) and 126-3 in 24.3 overs (Usman Salahuddin 39 not out); RAWALPINDI 176 in 50.2 overs (Mehran Mumtaz 40; Nisar Ahmed 4-55, Ali Shafiq 3-55) and 345 in 109.3 overs (Taimur Khan 166 not out, Sardar Hasan Raza 50; Hunain Shah 4-61, Kashif Bhatti 3-65)

Faisalabad beat Fata by 126 runs

FAISALABAD 215 in 79.5 overs (Faheem Ashraf 76, Mohammad Huraira 37; 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 in 43.4 overs (Mohammad Sarwar Afridi 35; Khurram Shahzad 6-23) and 181 all out in 66.4 overs (Mohammad Sarwar Afridi 59, Samiullah 49; Khurram Shahzad 4-55, Mohammad Abubakr Khan 3-26).

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2023