LAHORE: Shoaib Akhtar took six wickets after Azan Awais registered a double hundred as Sialkot thrashed Peshawar by an innings and 57 runs in their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy triangular stage match at the Abbotabad Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

Peshawar, trailing by 239 runs, were bowled out for 182 as fast bowler Shoaib registered figures of 6-51 — accumulating 8-101 across the match. Test pacer Mohammad Ali also used the conducive conditions in Abbotabad to take four wickets for 35 runs.

For Peshawar, Sajjad Ibraheem (42) and Niaz Khan (35) were the only batters to offer some resistance.

Earlier, Azan Awais surpassed the 500-run milestone in the ongoing season of the Quaid Trophy on his way to registering a maiden double-century as Sialkot added 91 runs to their overnight total to post 410 in response to Peshawar’s 171 in the first innings.

Azan carried his bat for an unbeaten 203 after resuming the third day’s play at 161.

Azan, 20, batted for just over nine-and-a-half hours, facing 407 deliveries and striking 27 fours. The left-hander’s remarkable performance took his tournament tally to 518 runs, placing him second only to Multan’s Imam-ul-Haq, who has 635 runs.

With Multan not having made it to the triangular stage, Azan has an excellent chance of finishing as the leading run-scorer of the competition.

The youngster’s innings featured three noteworthy partnerships on Wednesday. On Thursday, he added another 60 runs for the seventh wicket with Usama Mir, who contributed 29 off 57 balls, including five fours. Later, he put on 40 runs for the eighth wicket with Ali (16) to further consolidated Sialkot’s advantage.

Mohammad Amir Khan was the standout bowler for Peshawar, claiming his second five-wicket haul of the tournament. He added the scalps of last man Shoaib to return figures 5-141, taking his tally to 26 wickets in the prestigious first-class event.

This places him in joint-third among the leading wicket-takers, alongside Lahore Whites’ Ahmed Bashir. Islamabad’s Musa Khan leads the charts with 38 wickets, followed by Lahore Blues’ Mohammad Abbas and Bahawalpur’s Mehran Sanwal, who have 31 wickets each.

Israrullah and Niaz Khan chipped in with two wickets apiece.

Scores in brief:

PESHAWAR 171 in 46.1 overs (Ubaidullah 35, Zubair Khan 23; Mohammad Ali 4-35, Awais Ali 4-73) and 182 in 34.4 overs (Sajjad Ibraheem 44, Niaz Khan 35; Shoaib Akhtar 6-51, Mohammad Ali 3-43); SIALKOT 410 in 133.1 overs (Azan Awais 203 not out, Mohsin Riaz 64; Mohammad Amir Khan 5-141, Israrullah 2-5).

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2024