KARACHI, Feb 12: In what has been a seesaw Pentangular Cup cricket fixture so far, Sindh regained initiative to put themselves in a winning position despite a magnificent century by NWFP skipper Younis Khan on the penultimate day of the four-day match at the National Stadium here on Tuesday.

Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, the under fire Pakistan spinner, was chiefly responsible for reviving Sindh’s victory hopes after grabbing five for 62 in 25.4 overs – his 43rd five-for in first-class cricket – as NWFP lost the last six wickets for 66 runs after being poised for a healthy second-innings total at 188-4.

But Kaneria picked the final four wickets after lunch to terminate NWFP’s innings at 254 which left Sindh chasing a reachable target of 309 on a pitch that despite some signs of uneven bounce on Tuesday has now become ideal for batting.

This was very much evident when Sindh launched their chase. Khurram Manzoor and Khalid Latif, the young openers who had first taste of international cricket during the recent one-day series against Zimbabwe, redeemed themselves after failures in the first innings with a robust unbroken partnership of 130 to leave Sindh needing another 179 on Wednesday.

After near misses in the early part of their innings, both Khurram (74, 144 balls, 11 fours) and Khalid (56, 138 balls, nine fours) gained in confidence as Younis desperately rotated his bowlers, but found no success.

Earlier, Younis was the star performer for the visiting side. The Pakistan batsman converted his overnight score of 68 into a sublime 111. The 30-year-old right-hander brought up his 31st first-class hundred in great style by effortlessly nudging Kaneria to the mid-on boundary after having hit the previous two deliveries of the tall leg-spinner for boundaries.

Younis lost his overnight partner Wajahatullah Wasti very early in the day when young paceman Anwar Ali Khan had the former Test batsman caught behind for 17.

As long as Younis occupied the crease, NWFP stood a chance of setting Sindh a relatively tougher target. But Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan all-rounder, who brought himself on rather belatedly, was immediately rewarded when Younis misread a top spinner and was adjudged leg-before-wicket. His brilliant 168-ball knock that lasted a shade under four hours, included 19 fours.

Kaneria, after forcing Adnan Raees into top-edging a tossed-up googly to Khurram at mid-off, ripped through the tail once Afridi had scalped the dangerous Younis.

Only a last-day drama can prevent from Sindh registering a victory that almost became non-existent after they collapsed horribly to Shakeel-ur-Rehman on Monday.

Meanwhile, match referee Anwer Khan on Tuesday imposed fines of Rs5,000 each on Fawad Alam and Samiullah Niazi for breaching the PCB’s code of conduct.

Sindh batsman Fawad was penalized for showing dissent after he was given out (LBW) by umpire Riazuddin on Monday, while the Mianwali-born Faisalabad pacer Samiullah, who is in the NWFP side as a ‘guest’ player, had displayed an advertised logo on his clothing that directly contravened the PCB policy.

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