KARACHI: The Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad has been an absolute nightmare for the batsmen in the second-round Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship Super Eight fixture between Khan Research Laboratories and Lahore Blues with a staggering 31 wickets tumbling while the fourth innings is already underway.

At Monday’s draw of stumps on day two in the Group-I clash Lahore Blues were 14-1 in their second innings in what may turn out to be a nervy chase for the meagre tally of 116 runs against a KRL bowling line-up that includes Mohammad Abbas who is the leading wicket-taker in the current championship.

Abbas took three of the seven wickets Lahore Blues, overnight 23-3, lost in their first innings to be all out for 122, giving KRL a lead of 36. Abbas finished with 5-53 in 24.5 overs – the 23-year-old’s sixth five-for in nine matches thus far – while his left-arm new-ball partner Sadaf Hussain claimed 5-52 in 21 overs.

KRL’s second innings lasted just 27.1 overs as Pakistan discard Aizaz Cheema and Bilawal Iqbal skittled them out for 80 with both seamers equalling sharing the spoils. Aizaz, who was unceremoniously axed from the Pakistan side in 2012, bagged 5-28 to finish with match haul of 10-81 in 34.1 overs. Aizaz, now 36, is the second highest wicket-taker this season behind Abbas (57) with 41 from eight games.

Bilawal picked up 5-46, giving the 26-year-old match figures of 8-93. Nawaz Ahmed Jan was top-scorer for KRL with 29, while Usman Arshad (14) and Nayyar Abbas (12) were the only other batsmen to enter double figures.

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) collected 235-4 after young paceman Azizullah took a hat-trick to terminate Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda)’s first innings at 297 in the other Group-I encounter at the UBL Sports Complex here.

Wapda, who were 274-6, lost skipper Aamir Sajjad for 67 after adding only 19 runs to their Sunday’s score. Azizullah then swiftly polished off the tail as Zulfiqar Babar was bowled for two before cleaning up Junaid Khan and Azhar Attari with the next two deliveries to end up with impressive analysis of 4-39 in 14.5 overs.

The experienced pair of Mohammad Hafeez and Taufiq Umar put on 96 before Zulfiqar trapped Taufiq leg before for 35. Hafeez was shaping up quite well when he was caught behind by Bismillah Khan for 57 (of 89 balls, 10 fours and one six) as he attempted to get Zulfiqar away.

Azhar Ali played an uncharacteristic innings and found it hard to time his strokes, while playing and missing on numerous occasions as he toiled through 201 minutes to accumulate 44 from 143 balls with five boundaries before was dismissed just before close of play when Iftikhar Ahmed deceived him with a clever piece of off-spin bowling to have the Pakistan ODI skipper taken at slip.

Umar Akmal provided the best exhibition of batting with an effortless 40 off 68 balls as he blasted seven fours with he and Azhar adding 61 in 93 minutes.

Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, who added 58 with Azhar, looked in good touch as the seasoned SNGPL captain struck six fours in his 76-ball undefeated knock of 42.

Zulfiqar bowled 27 overs from the Scoreboard End to claim three wickets for 87 runs.

United Bank Limited (UBL) were in total command of the Group-II match as Karachi Whites reached 103-3 after the Younis Khan-led side amassed 585-7 declared at the NBP Sports Complex.

Younis was unlucky to miss a double century by a whisker after resuming at his overnight score of 144 in UBL’s tally of 373-3. Sohaib Maqsood, who began on 58, duly completed his seventh first-class hundred as he and Younis shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 212 in 213 minutes.

Sohaib was caught behind off slow left-armer Sohaib Khan for 101 (144 balls, 14 boundaries) before the same bowler forced Younis to sweep again against the spin to have the legendary right-hander, who batted for 414 minutes, held at point by Jaahid Ali for 197 (262 balls, 24 fours).

Left-arm paceman Ghulam Mudassar took two more wickets on Monday to finish with 4-160 in 31 overs with Sohaib taking 2-166 in 39 overs.

Karachi Whites began solidly before losing Majid Khan (15), Mohammad Waqas (16) and Saad Ali (0) with the score reaching 54. But opener Jaahid (39) and skipper Faisal Iqbal (27) saw off the reminder of the day without being separated.

Akbar-ur-Rehman came to the rescue of National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) with another three-figure contribution as his side recovered from a precarious 17-3 to post 332-5 in reply to Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC)’s first-innings total of 348 in the other Group-II match at the National Stadium.

Returning Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Khan cleaned up Nasir Jamshed with the second ball of the innings and then meted out the same treatment to his opening partner Mohammad Nawaz (4) shortly afterwards.

Seamer Adnan Ghaus then trapped Fawad Alam LBW for seven before Umar Waheed was joined by the in-form Akbar in the first of two productive stands.

Umar made 40 while helping Akbar add 111 for the fourth wicket. Captain Kamran Akmal then arrived to partner Akbar in a partnership of 181 in only 126 minutes to NBP in driving seat when Kamran fell to spinner Zafar Gohar for 92 (94 balls, 13 fours and one six).

Akbar had already gone well past his fourth ton of the current championship when Kamran departed. By close of play, the 32-year-old right-hander had moved to 142 from 173 balls in almost six hours of batting as he hit 19 fours and one six.

Earlier, SSGC’s last wicket didn’t fall before Umar Amin and Adnan Ghaus had extended their overnight partnership to 112 to complete a remarkable comeback from being 181-8 on Sunday.

Umar, who began the day on 111, was finally dismissed for 169 (279 balls, 24 fours and one six) while Adnan lent tremendous support with a priceless 25 not out.

Close of play scores on Monday (day two of four):

Super Eight:

Second round:

Group-I:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: WATER AND POWER DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 297 in 89.5 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 77, Aamir Sajjad 67, Adnan Raees 52, Bismillah Khan 23, Mohammad Saad 20; Azizullah 4-39, Yasir Shah 3-101); SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LIMITED 235-4 in 76 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 57, Azhar Ali 44, Misbah-ul-Haq 42 not out, Umar Akmal 40, Taufiq Umar 35; Zulfiqar Babar 3-87).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES 158 in 58.1 overs (Abdul Rehman Muzammil 60; Aizaz Cheema 5-53, Bilawal Iqbal 3-47, Ahmed Bashir 2-44) and 80 in 27.1 overs (Nawaz Ahmed Jan 29; Aizaz Cheema 5-28, Bilawal Iqbal 5-46); LAHORE BLUES 122 in 53.5 overs (Fahad-ul-Haq 36, Haris Nazar 22, Agha Salman 22; Sadaf Hussain 5-52, Mohammad Abbas 5-53) and 14-1 in 3 overs.

Group-II:

At National Stadium, Karachi: SUI SOUTHERN GAS COMPANY 348 in 102.4 overs (Umar Amin 169, Sohail Khan 30, Ali Asad 25, Asif Zakir 25, Adnan Ghaus 25; Ahmed Jamal 3-75, Adnan Rasool 2-55); NATIONAL BANK OF PAKISTAN 332-5 in 67 overs (Akbar-ur-Rehman 142 not out, Kamran Akmal 92, Umar Waheed 40; Zafar Gohar 2-74, Sohail Khan 2-81).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: UNITED BANK LIMITED 585-7 declared in 131 overs (Younis Khan 197, Sohaib Maqsood 101, Shan Masood 81, Sharjeel Khan 66, Hammad Azam 37 not out, Ehsan Adil 32 not out; Ghulam Mudassar 4-160, Sohaib Khan 2-166); KARACHI WHITES 106-3 in 39 overs (Jaahid Ali 39 not out, Faisal Iqbal 27 not out; Mir Hamza 2-22).

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2015