LAHORE, Nov 14: Punjab were on verge of scoring their first victory in the RBS Pentangular Cup after fine bowling by Abdur Rehman and Wahab Riaz forced Balochistan to follow-on on the penultimate day of the four-day match at the Gaddafi Stadium here on Friday.

Slow left-armer Abdur Rehman snared four for 85 and left-arm paceman Wahab took three for 43 as Balochistan were all out for 271 in reply to Punjab’s massive first-innings total of 526 for eight declared.

By close of play, the visitors were 42-2 after losing both openers, Shoaib Khan and Usman Tariq, to off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez. They still need 213 runs to avoid an innings defeat.

Having resumed at 50 for two, Balochistan needed a couple of their batsmen to play long innings. But this never materialised as wickets fell frequently with Wahab removing Rameez Alam (44), stand-in skipper Saeed bin Nasir (34) and Saeed Anwar Jr (18).

Abdur Rehman then dismissed top-scorer Bilal Khilji (70 with eight fours and one six) and the tail as Balochistan finished 255 runs behind on the first innings.

Scoreboard

PUNJAB (1st Innings) 526-8 declared (Adnan Raza 113, Ayub Dogar 117, Azhar Ali 104, Khurram Shahzad 93 not out).