BILAL Khilji led a superb rearguard action to enable Bahawalpur to secure a slim lead of six runs over Faisalabad on the second day of their Bottom Six Teams final in the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan on Monday.

The 37-year-old left-handed batsman struck a splendid 131 — his 13th first-class century — to virtually single-handedly pull his side out of mires after Bahawalpur, who had been two wickets down for no run on Sunday evening, lost their third wicket with the total being four.

Bilal’s fighting 237-ball innings, was embellished with 20 boundaries in 313 minutes of stay — during which he was involved in two innings-defining partnerships — ultimately lifted Bahawalpur to 279 all out in response to Faisalabad’s 273.

After opener Imranullah Aslam provided debutant medium-pacer Bilal Butt with a maiden wicket with his second ball in first-class cricket, Faisal Mubashir (33) played second fiddle to Bilal in a third-wicket stand of 97 in 112 minutes. Bahawalpur skipper Rehan Rafiq (27) further added 87 for the next wicket before falling to slow left-armer Imran Khalid.

Bahawalpur’s cause was also boosted down the order by useful contributions from Faisal Elahi (21) and Ansar Javed (26) before both fell to left-arm seamer Samiullah Khan Niazi.

Samiullah, who had taken two wickets in four balls on Sunday, ended up with figures of five for 73 in 23.3 overs — the 30-year-old’s 19th haul of five-for in first-class cricket. Bilal Butt claimed two for 44 in 17 overs.

Faisalabad then faced four overs in the second innings to reach stumps at 12-0 to be front by six runs with three days remaining in the match.

Scoreboard FAISALABAD (1st Innings) 273 (Mohammad Salman 69, Ali Waqas 41; Imranullah Aslam 5-83, Ataullah 2-76). BAHAWALPUR (1st Innings, overnight 0-2): Rafay Ahmed lbw b Samiullah    0 Imranullah Aslam c Khurram b Bilal     4 Hamid Ali b Samiullah    0 Bilal Khilji b Faisal    131 Faisal Mubashir c Asif b Khurram    33 Rehan Rafiq c Asif b Imran    27 Kamran Hussain c Khurram b Samiullah    11 Faisal Elahi c Imran b Samiullah    21 Ansar Javed b Samiullah    26 Waqas Khan c Salman b Bilal    6 Ataullah not out    1 EXTRAS (B-1, LB-9, W-3, NB-6)    19 TOTAL (all out, 84.3 overs)    279 FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-0, 3-4, 4-101, 5-188, 6-203, 7-231, 8-254, 9-264. BOWLING: Samiullah Khan Niazi 23.4-5-73-5; Bilal Butt 17-3-44-2 (1w); Faisal Yasin 15-3-37-1 (6nb, 2w); Imran Khalid 10-0-36-0; Khurram Shehzad 17-1-59-1; Moazzam Hayat 2-0-20-0. FAISALABAD (2nd Innings): Asif Ali not out    6 Moazzam Hayat not out    6 EXTRAS    0 TOTAL (for no wkt, 4 overs)    12 BOWLING (to-date): Ataullah 2-1-2-0; Ansar Javed 2-0-10-0.