KARACHI, Nov 18: An unbeaten century by Azhar Ali, his third of the tournament, rescued Punjab from a tight corner on the first day of the RBS Pentangular Cup match against leaders NWFP at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Tuesday.

Azhar compiled 116 runs in a patient knock that carried Punjab, currently bottom of the standings, to 238 for eight in their first innings after NWFP skipper Yasir Hameed invited the home team to bat first at the toss.

Without Azhar’s contribution, the Punjab innings would have folded up for a low total as the top-order failed against the new-ball bowlers Nauman Habib (3-51) and Shakeel-ur-Rehman (2-45).

There were just two partnerships of note during the day, which inevitably involved Azhar in both of them. The opener put on 61 with Mansoor Amjad (29) for the third wicket before Wahab Riaz (19) assisted him in adding 50 for the eighth wicket.

Azhar’s 206-ball knock includes 17 boundaries.

The NWFP, already through to the final after winning all three previous matches, have been further strengthened by the presence of Pakistan star batsman Younis Khan, who chose to play for his province rather than go back to Australia where he is representing South Australia in the Sheffield Shield competition.

Younis, in fact, took the wicket of Punjab’s wicket-keeper/batsman Mohammad Salman in a brief two-over spell on Tuesday.

Scoreboard

PUNJAB (1st Innings):

Mohammad Hafeez c Zulfiqar b Nauman 12

Azhar Ali not out 116

Umar Akmal c Zulfiqar b Nauman 4

Mansoor Amjad c Zulfiqar b Nauman 29

Ayub Dogar c Shoaib b Shakeel 8

Khurram Shahzad b Shakeel 13

Mohammad Salman b Younis 8

Abdul Rehman c Riffat b Aslam 10

Wahab Riaz c Adnan b Junaid 19

Mohammad Talha not out 5

EXTRAS (LB-12, W-2) 14

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 72.5 overs) 238

FALL OF WKTS: 1-23, 2-29, 3-90, 4-107, 5-121, 6-131, 7-168, 8-218.

TO BAT: Mohammad Khalil.

BOWLING (to-date): Nauman Habib 18.5-4-51-3; Shakeel-ur-Rehman 19-8-45-2 (2w); Junaid Khan 21-2-74-1; Younis Khan 2-0-3-1; Aslam Qureshi 12-1-53-1.

NWFP: Yasir Hameed, Adnan Raees, Riffatullah Mohmand, Younis Khan, Shoaib Khan, Aftab Khan, Zulfiqar Jan, Shakeel-ur-Rehman, Aslam Qureshi, Nauman Habib, Junaid Khan.

UMPIRES: Salim Badar and Nadeem Ghauri.

MATCH REFEREE: Khalid Niazi.