LAHORE, March 4 Kamran Younis and Naeemuddin shared a big opening partnership as Sialkot put themselves in a strong position against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) on the second day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship final at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot on Wednesday.

Kamran struck a stroke-filled 86 and Naeemuddin made an undefeated 70 as the right-left pair added 150 in 155 minutes for the first wicket after KRL were dismissed for 296 in their first innings.

Kamran, who hammered 13 fours and three sixes in a 107-ball knock, was bowled by left-arm paceman Junaid Khan. Naeemuddin and Bilal Azmat (20, three fours) then carried the score to 189-1 when stumps were drawn for the day in the five-day final. Naeemuddin`s solid 150-ball innings, which has spanned 230 minutes, includes 10 boundaries.

Earlier, KRL resumed at 208-4 with Azhar Ali (84) and Bazid (18) at the crease. But they failed to post a challenging total as they lost the remaining six wickets for the addition of only 88 runs.

After Bazid departed without adding to his overnight score, opener Azhar missed his century by the narrowest of margins. He was trapped leg-before-wicket by right-arm medium-pacer Sarmad Anwar for 99 after having occupied the crease for six hours and 17 minutes. Azhar`s 293-ball knock contained 17 hits to the ropes.

Ali Khan, the only other bright spot for KRL on Wednesday, contributed 42 (82 balls, six fours) in almost two hours until he was run out by Bilal Azmat.

Slow left-armer Nayyar Abbas finished with tidy figures of three for 54 in 28 overs while the pace trio of Naved Arif, Sarmad Anwar and Bilawal Bhatti took two wickets each.

Scoreboard

KRL (1st Innings, overnight 208-4)

Saeed Anwar Jr c Sarmad b Naved 30

Azhar Ali lbw b Sarmad 99

Zulfiqar Jan c Kamran b Sarmad 11

Ali Naqvi c Bilawal b Nayyar 17

Mohammad Wasim lbw b Nayyar 24

Bazid Khan c Kamran b Bilawal 18

Ali Khan run out 42

Yasir Ali c Bilal b Bilawal 9

Jaffar Nazir lbw b Naved 17

Saeed Ajmal st Ahmed b Nayyar 0

Junaid Khan not out 0

EXTRAS (LB-9, W-4, NB-16) 29

TOTAL (all out, 110.1 overs) 296

FALL OF WKTS 1-63, 2-79, 3-122, 4-153, 5-208, 6-236, 7-252, 8-288, 9-289.

BOWLING Naved Arif 30.1-11-77-2 (3nb, 1w); Sarmad Anwar 22-5-66-2 (6nb); Bilawal Bhatti 29-8-91-2 (7nb, 2w); Nayyar Abbas 28-8-54-3; Kamran Younis 1-0-5-0.

SIALKOT (1st Innings)

Kamran Younis b Junaid 86

Naeemuddin not out 70

Bilal Azmat not out 20

EXTRAS (B-7, LB-1, W-1, NB-4) 13

TOTAL (for one wkt, 53 overs) 189

FALL OF WKT 1-150.

TO BAT Haris Sohail, Ayub Dogar, Ayaz Tasawwar, Ahmed Butt, Naved Arif, Bilawal Bhatti, Sarmad Anwar, Nayyar Abbas.

BOWLING (to-date) Jaffar Nazir 12-4-41-0 (1nb, 1w); Junaid Khan 10-3-36-1; Yasir Ali 11-1-33-0 (3nb); Saeed Ajmal 17-5-58-0; Mohammad Wasim 1-0-8-0; Saeed Anwar 1-0-1-0; Jr Ali Khan 1-0-4-0.

UMPIRES Riazuddin and Ehtesham-ul-Haq.

MATCH REFEREE Musaddeq Rasool Khan.