KARACHI, Oct 24: A century by PWD opening batsman Bilal Asad was the highlight of a dreary final day of the Patron’s Trophy Grade-I match against Pakistan Customs at UBL Sports Complex here Wednesday.

Bilal Asad struck a solid 112 in four hours and 20 minutes to guide PWD towards a draw that was always going to be the most favourable result on a dead pitch.

PWD eventually reached 228 for five in their second innings after Customs enforced the follow-on once the former had been bowled out for 393, adding just three runs to their overnight 390 for nine.

There was one moment though in the last session when Customs might have gone for the final kill and pulled off an amazing victory. PWD, cruising along nicely at 211 for one, suddenly lost their bearings as four wickets crashed in 21 balls with Aamir Bashir picking up Afsar Nawaz (44) and Rajesh Ramesh (0) off successive deliveries.

Otherwise, the opening partnership of 123 on either side of the lunch interval between Bilal, who slammed 13 fours during his 227-ball knock, and Azam Khan (44 off 91 balls, seven fours) in 134 minutes was the ideal foundation that PWD had prayed for in endeavour to save the match.

Customs off-spinner Tabish Nawab finished the match with a bag of eight for 210 runs in 68.1 overs.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should take serious note of the kind of pitches being prepared for the premier first-class championship at UBL Sports Complex. The track for the Customs-PWD encounter was anything but result-oriented.

Officials of Pakistan Customs were understandably furious at the pathetic condition of the pitch. Their contention was simple since they had to pay the UBL authorities a princely sum of Rs 4,000 per day as ground charges — arguably the highest rate being charged by any ground in the country.

Just imagine UBL Sports Complex charges Rs 32,000 for a four-day first-class fixture (Rs 16,000 from each team) and yet it has consistently failed in the last few seasons to ensure a sporting pitch.

One can’t blame the groundstaff because almost throughout the year matches of all kinds are played at this venue for the sake of bread and butter.

In this scenario, Customs’ hopes of retaining their title have been drastically hit since they take on PIA at the same venue from Saturday most probably on another lifeless strip.

Scoreboard

PAKISTAN CUSTOMS (1st Innings) 604-7 dec (Aamir Bashir 115, Imraan Mohammad107, Asim Kamal 102 not out, Kashif Siddique 98, Shadab Kabir 62, Tariq Haroon 50).

PWD (1st Innings, overnight 390-9):

Bilal Asad c A. Iqbal b Salman 39

Azam Khan c Azhar b Tabish 37

Haaris Ayaz c A. Iqbal b Tabish 0

Afsar Nawaz lbw b Tabish 20

Bazid Khan c A. Iqbal b Azhar 127

Saad Wasim b Salman 17

Iqbal Imam lbw b Tariq 44

Riaz Shaikh c sub (Fahim) b Tabish 43

Rajesh Ramesh c Imraan b Tabish 15

Mutahir Shah c sub (Fahim) b Tabish 22

Nadeem Iqbal not out 17

EXTRAS (LB-9, W-3) 12

TOTAL (all out, 114.1 overs) 393

FALL OF WKTS: 1-72, 2-72, 3-84, 4-122, 5-178, 6-268, 7-309, 8-349, 9-358.

BOWLING: Azhar Shafiq 12-4-55-1 (1w); Tariq Haroon 11-1-26-1 (1w); Tabish Nawab 47.1-8-169-6; Salman Fazal 31.1-6-80-2; Kashif Siddique 2-0-7-0; Imraan Mohammad 2-0-14-0; Naseem Khan 7.5-2-30-0; Shadab Kabir 1-0-4-0.

PWD (2nd Innings):

Bilal Asad b Aamir Iqbal 112

Azam Khan c sub (Wasim) b Tabish 44

Afsar Nawaz lbw b Aamir Bashir 44

Riaz Shaikh b Tabish 10

Rajesh Ramesh b Aamir Bashir 0

Saad Wasim not out 4

Haaris Ayaz not out 3

EXTRAS (B-7, LB-4) 11

TOTAL (for five wkts, 84 overs) 228

FALL OF WKTS: 1-123, 2-211, 3-217, 4-217, 5-221.

BOWLING: Azhar Shafiq 7-1-32-0; Tariq Haroon 7-0-18-0; Shadab Kabir 10-3-32-0; Tabish Nawab 21-7-41-2; Aamir Bashir 20-7-26-2; Aamir Iqbal 8-0-32-1; Naseem Khan 11-0-36-0.

RESULT: Match drawn.

UMPIRES: Feroz Butt and Riazuddin.

MATCH REFEREE: Shahid Pervez.