Rehan century inspires Abbottabad as Blues toil
KARACHI, Oct 24: A maiden century by Rehan Afridi enabled Abbottabad pile up an impressive 367 against Karachi Blues on the second day of their Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship fixture at the National Stadium here on Thursday.
Karachi Blues thereafter survived a tricky two sessions to make 167-4 in reply with Ashraf Ali carrying their fading hopes of first innings lead with 49 at draw of stumps.
But the day rightly belonged to Khyber Agency-born Rehan. The 21-year-old wicket-keeper/batsman, scored a superb 139 not out after resuming on 58 in his team’s total of 259-8.
The right-hander, who adorned his 200-ball knock in four hours of batting with 17 boundaries, was comfortably the dominant partner in the ninth-wicket partnership of 165 with Umair Khan (44 off 140 balls, four sixes and two fours) in 175 minutes.
Rehan, playing only in his seventh first-class, in fact never even managed a half century prior to this game with his best score being 46 against Karachi Whites at Abbottabad last December.
Abbottabad’s position of strength was unexpected after they had been reduced to 22-3 and lost their skipper Waqar Orakzai to the first ball of the match. But luck favoured them as the left-handed opener Mohammad Naeem scored 75 after he was badly let off before scoring when Faraz Ahmed Khan off Rajesh Ramesh.
Lahore Shalimar were struggling at 135-6 after visitors Karachi Whites posted 430 at the Gaddafi Stadium. Waqas Saleem (60) and skipper Umar Siddique (56) added 115 for the third wicket but once they went, the Whites gained complete control.
Sialkot were poised for early victory after Lahore Ravi were forced to follow on at the LCCA Ground. Replying to Sialkot’s 382, the home team stumbled to 110 all out with debutant pace duo of Hasan Ali (4-32) and Adnan Ghaus (3-35) sharing the spoils.
Batting again, the Lahore Ravi made 11-0.
Quetta faced a daunting prospect after Hyderabad made 435 at the Niaz Stadium with Faisal Athar making 143 (233 balls, 18 fours and one six). The visiting side reached 42-0.
Bahawalpur were tottering at 103-6 after Zahid Mansoor’s unbeaten 102 guided Rawalpindi to 536-7 declared at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Zahid, who hit eight fours and one, was the third centurion of the Pindi innings after Naved Malik (127) and Shoaib Nasir (112) had reached three figures on day one.
Faisalabad reached 104-3 after Multan had amassed 427 at the Iqbal Stadium. Usman Liaquat (176) added 22 to his overnight score of 154.
Close of play scores on Thursday (day two of four):Group-I:At National Stadium, Karachi: ABBOTTABAD 367 in 110 overs (Rehan Afridi 139 not out, Mohammad Naeem 75, Khalilullah Khan 53, Umair Khan 44; Faraz Ahmed Khan 3-81); KARACHI BLUES 167-4 in 54 overs (Ashraf Ali 49 not out, Behram Khan 41, Naved Khan 40).
At LCCA Ground, Lahore: SIALKOT 382 in 106.3 overs (Mansoor Amjad 59, Faisal Khan 57, Naved Sarwar 50, Adnan Zaheer 43; Adnan Danish 4-103, Aleem Yousuf 3-98); LAHORE RAVI 110 in 43.2 overs (Hasan Ali 4-32, Adnan Ghaus 3-35) and 11-0 in 6 overs.
At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: RAWALPINDI 536-7 declared in 120 overs (Naved Malik 127, Shoaib Nasir 112, Zahid Mansoor 102 not out); BAHAWALPUR 103-6 in 37 overs.
Group-II:At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: KARACHI WHITES 430 in 118.2 overs (Fazal Subhan 155, Asif Zakir 114, Shahzaib Ahmed Khan 61 not out; Waqar Ahmed 4-104); LAHORE SHALIMAR 135-6 in 43.3 overs (Waqas Saleem 60, Umar Siddique 56).
At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: HYDERABAD 435 in 139.4 overs (Faisal Athar 143, Mir Ali Talpur 75, Shoaib Leghari 61, Zafar Ali 60; Shahzad Tareen 5-111, Faizullah 3-86); QUETTA 42-0 in 26 overs.
At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: MULTAN 427 in 125 overs (Usman Liaquat 176, Waqar Hussain 51; Adnan Munir 5-101); FAISALABAD 104-3 in 39 overs.