KARACHI: Quetta got off to a horrendous start on the opening day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-II Cricket Tournament when Abbottabad shot them for a meagre first-innings score of 64 here at the NBP Sports Complex on Friday.

After Shahzad Tareen chose to bat upon winning the toss, Quetta batsmen had no answer to the upcoming paceman Arshad Iqbal (4-12 in 10.1 overs) and slow left-armer Fawad Malook (3-9 in 7 overs) as the entire innings lasted just 35.1 overs and a grand total of 213 minutes.

Barring opener Bismillah Khan and Taimur Khan, both of whom scored 19, no other managed even more than seven runs while five departed without opening their account.

Abbottabad ended their good day with a lead of 109 as they went to stumps at 173-6. Imran Shah, opening the innings, is still going strong with a solid 59 as he adorned his 140-ball knock with nine boundaries.

In the other Group ‘B’ fixture at the UBL Sports Complex, Karachi Blues were in some strife at 47-3 after having restricted Larkana to 143 all out in 70 overs.

Larkana, put into bat by Karachi captain Fawad Alam, struggled to put up a decent total despite Habibullah contributing a painstaking 40 from 136 deliveries. Test paceman Mir Hamza grabbed 3-47 in 16 overs while the left-arm spin accounted for the remaining seven wickets as Mohammad Asghar snared four of them for 50 runs in 26 overs and Fawad taking the rest for 10 runs in as many overs.

The star-laden Faisalabad, who along with Karachi Blues are rated favourites to make the final, were given a tough time by Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) in their Group ‘A’ match at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

Misbah-ul-Haq opted to bowl first after his AJK counterpart Sardar Hasan Raza called incorrectly at the toss. But the decision was nullified by a spirited batting performance by the visitors who collected a good tally of 311-8 in 83 overs.

The star of the day being Babar Khaliq, who scored an enterprising 109 off 170 balls against a bowling line-up that includes Waqas Maqsood, Ehsan Adil, Khurram Shehzad in the pace department plus the spin of Imran Khalid and occasional bowlers Khurram Shehzad and Abubakar Khan.

Babar, who slammed 15 boundaries, lifted AJK from 146-6 to 261-7 while sharing a fighting partnership of 115 with Farhan Raja (40). Naved Malik hit a 73-ball 51 with 10 fours.

Waqas, the left-armer who played a T20 International against New Zealand late last year, claimed five wickets for 46 runs in 19 overs.

Just 56 overs were possible at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in AJK where Bahawalpur reached 163-8 after Sialkot captain Shahid Yousuf chose to bowl first upon winning the toss.

Close of play scores on Friday (day one of three):

Group ‘A’:

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: AZAD JAMMU KASHMIR 311-8 in 83 overs (Babar Khaliq 109, Naved Malik 51, Farhan Raja 40, Inzamam-ul-Haq 29 not out, Sardar Hasan Raza 27; Waqas Maqsood 5-46, Ehsan Adil 2-60) vs FAISALABAD.

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, AJK: BAHAWALPUR 163-8 in 56 overs (Mohammad Umair 59 not out, Mohammad Sudais 28, Atif Jabbar 3-37, Bilawal Bhatti 3-42) vs SIALKOT.

Group ‘B’:

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: LARKANA 143 in 70 overs (Habibullah 40, Faraz Aziz 31, Mohsin Khokhar 20; Mohammad Asghar 4-50, Fawad Alam 3-10, Mir Hamza 3-37); KARACHI BLUES 47-3 in 18 overs (Faraz Aziz 2-2).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: QUETTA 64 in 35.1 overs (Bismillah Khan 19, Taimur Khan 19; Arshad Iqbal 4-12, Fawad Malook 3-9, Himayatullah 2-12); ABBOTTABAD 173-6 in 52 overs (Imran Shah 59 not out, Adnan Raees 35, Fawad Malook 27 not out; Mohiuddin 3-26).

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2019