KARACHI, Feb 17: Splendid batting by Naved Latif and Tauqir Hussain lifted Faisalabad out of deep trouble against Karachi on an eventful first day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match at the National Stadium on Tuesday.

Both Naved and Tauqir were desperately unlucky to miss out scoring centuries, but their efforts late in the day guided the visitors to a formidable 311 on a pitch offering generous support to the fast bowlers.

Faced with an awkward 14-over period, Karachi inevitably lost openers Shadab Kabir (12) and Shahid Afridi (13) to close the day on 45 for two with play finishing at five past six in the evening.

Faisalabad's first innings on a sensational note when medium-pacer Tanvir Ahmed disposed of Mohammad Ramzan, Asif Hussain and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq for ducks while the score remained stationary on six.

To add to the drama, Mohammad Sami, the Test fast bowler, then watched helplessly as first Shadab Kabir and then Tahir Khan dropped relatively simple catches. Had those chances being taken, Faisalabad might have been tottering at 27 for five.

Ijaz Ahmed Jr's miss proved costly as the former Test right-hander went on to score 54, laced with 10 boundaries. Naved, fresh from his memorable century in the Quaid Cup on Monday, spanked 12 fours to reach 50. But he was forced to come off at that score (the total being 127 for five) when he was struck a painful blow on his right forearm.

Tauqir, meanwhile, continued to bat with confidence while wickets fell at regular intervals. Naved returned at the fall of the ninth wicket to prolong Karachi's agony.

Displaying a wide range of strokes, he took a liking for Tahir Khan's off-spin by smashing two huge sixes in an over that produced 20 runs. One such on-side hit landed on the roof of the Zaheer Abbas. But on reaching 91, Naved slashed at a wide delivery from left-arm paceman Nasir Khan, but only succeeded in edging a catch to Karachi skipper and Test wicket-keeper Moin Khan. His audacious 75-ball knock was laced with 16 fours and those sixes.

Tauqir was left stranded on 97, a 137-ball innings that lasted 186 minutes and included 14 fours and one six. Sami deserved more than one for 70 that he eventually finished with. Tanvir bowled his hearts out to end up with six for 112.

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