KARACHI: Former winners of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship Wapda were battling for survival after Karachi Whites dominated the day two of their four-day first-round clash here at the National Stadium on Sunday.

Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt, the Wapda captain and the fulcrum of his team batting, endured his second failure of the season opener when he fell to debutant fast bowler Mohammad Umar for the second time in the match. The left-hander, who was caught behind for a five-ball duck on Saturday, was trapped LBW by the youngster for just six.

After seeing Karachi Whites take a lead of 47 runs on the first innings, Wapda stumbled to 35-2 by stumps.

Mirza Asad Baig contributed 76 to help Karachi Whites collect 292.

ZTBL conceded a two-run lead to Lahore Blues by bowling out the regional outfit for 123 at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. The departmental team then posted 174-4 to lead by 172 at the halfway stage of the match.

Lahore Whites were 135-4 after defending champions SNGPL lost their last six wickets for 28 runs to be dismissed for 251 at the LCCA Ground in Lahore.

NBP were in front at 275-4 after dismissing Fata for 247 at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Upcoming left-arm speedster Mir Hamza starred with figures of 6-42 in 24 overs.

Peshawar skipper Akbar Badshah remained unbeaten with 114 (259 balls, nine fours) to help his side post 278 against KRL at the KRL Stadium. Spinner Nauman Ali claimed 6-62 in 33 overs before KRL ended the day at 132-2.

Multan were reeling at 166-7 in reply to PTV’s 281 all out at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Right-arm paceman Mohammad Irfan, however, excelled for the home team with 5-37 in 17.4 overs.

HBL reached 243-5 after Islamabad made 348 in their first innings at the Diamond Club Ground, while Rawalpindi were struggling at 112-6 after SSGCL had collected 349 at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

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

Pool ‘A’:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: SNGPL 251 in 109.5 overs (Iftikhar Ahmed 69, Naeemuddin 56, Asad Shafiq 22; Babar Rehman 4-65, Mohammad Irfan 4-84); LAHORE WHITES 135-4 in 64 overs (Usman Salahuddin 42 not out, Ali Zaryab 38, Nauman Anwar 30; Bilawal Bhatti 3-22).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: PESHAWAR 278 in 99 overs (Akbar Badshah 114 not out, Israrullah 54; Nauman Ali 6-62, Sadaf Hussain 2-61); KRL 132-2 in 45 overs (Jaahid Ali 52 not out, Azeem Ghumman 31).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ISLAMABAD 348 in 89.3 overs (Rohail Nazir 130, Shehzad Azam Rana 70 not out, Sarmad Bhatti 59, Zohaib Ahmed 45; Umar Gul 3-34, Abdur Rehman 3-93, Amad Butt 2-53); HBL 243-5 in 76 overs (Abid Ali 83, Salman Afridi 32, Saad Khan 31 not out, Ramiz Aziz 28 not out; Mohammad Arham 2-57, Mohammad Nadeem 2-69).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad: FATA 247 in 98 overs (Afaq Raheem 103, Nisar Afridi 57; Mir Hamza 6-42, Atif Jabbar 3-65); NBP 275-4 in 75 overs (Danish Aziz 84, Rameez Raja 57, Akbar-ur-Rehman 47 not out; Adnan Ghaus 2-80).

Pool ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: WAPDA 245 in 63.2 overs (Adnan Raees 53, Khalid Usman 51, Kamran Akmal 32; Adeel Malik 4-88, Hassaan Khan 2-11, Mohammad Umar 2-42) and 35-2 in 14 overs; KARACHI WHITES 292 in 96.2 overs (Mirza Asad Baig 76, Khurram Manzoor 42, Mohammad Hasan 37, Kashif Iqbal 36; Hussain Shah 4-63, Zulfiqar Babar 2-49, Ehsan Adil 2-67, Waqas Maqsood 2-75).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: PTV 281 in 105.4 overs (Umair Khan 68, Saud Shakeel 42, Mohammad Yasin 41; Mohammad Irfan 5-37, Ahsan Baig 2-60); MULTAN 166-7 in 72 overs (Waqar Hussain 43; Aamir Jamal 3-28, Ali Khan 2-15).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: ZTBL 121 in 46.4 overs (Aaqib Shah 55 not out, Munir-re-Rehman Tanzil 41; Aizaz Cheema 4-21, Mohammad Umar 3-38, Bilawal Iqbal 2-29) and 174-4 in 61 overs (Haseeb-ur-Rehman 48, Aaqib Shah 45, Waqas Saleem 36); LAHORE BLUES 123 in 54.2 overs (Farhan Khan 42; Haseeb-ur-Rehman 4-9, Mohammad Ali 3-32).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: SSGCL 349 in 104.5 overs (Umar Amin 154, Sami Aslam 100, Adil Amin 38; Saad Altaf 6-88, Rizwan Akbar 2-77); RAWALPINDI 112-6 in 42 overs (Naved Malik 43 not out; Aamir Yamin 3-24, Ahmed Jamal 2-32).

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2018