Openers shine as Sialkot make good reply
KARACHI, Jan 8 A fine century opening stand between Kamran Younis and Hafiz Majid Jahangir enabled Sialkot make a spirited response to Rest of Pakistan's first-innings total of 412 on the second day of the RBS Pentangular Cup match at the National Stadium here on Friday.
Sialkot were 132 runs behind after reaching 280-5 at stumps. The foundation of this strong reply was provided by skipper Kamran and Majid who together began with a partnership of 115 at better than run-a-minute.
Kamran batted his customary cavalier fashion to blast 11 boundaries in a 67-ball 61 in 103 minutes until he was bowled by slow left-armer Zulfiqar Babar.
Majid, in contrast, was cautious on his approach as he made 63 off 107 balls with 10 fours. He was caught behind by Naeem Anjum who replaced the Australia-bound wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed at the start of the Sialkot innings.
Promising Karachi paceman Tabish Khan after dismissing Majid also accounted for Ayub Dogar in the same way. Ayub contributed 35. Faisal Khan continued the good work of the earlier batsmen by striking six fours in an undefeated 54 off 116 balls.
Rest of Pakistan, earlier added 41 runs to their first day's total of 371. Sarfraz, who began the day on 67, scored six more runs before he was bowled by paceman Prince Abbas for 73 (98 balls, nine fours and one six). He was allowed to withdraw from the match at that point to prepare for his departure to Australia late on Friday night.
In the given circumstances when a player is required for national duty during a match there is a provision in the playing rules that such an individual could by replaced by another player as a member of the playing XI. Hence, Islamabad wicket-keeper Naeem Anjum was drafted into the side in place of Sarfraz.
Zulfiqar, meanwhile, batted well enough to almost double his Thursday's score of 27 and take his side past the 400-run mark. However after making 51 (55 balls, nine fours and one six) he fell to Prince.
Scoreboard
REST OF PAKISTAN (1st Innings, overnight 371-7)
Kashif Siddique c F. Khan b F. Rasheed 7
Umair Khan c Ahmed b Bilawal 11
Saeed Anwar Jr c Ayub b Bilawal 17
Aamir Sajjad c Ahmed b F. Rasheed 119
Naved Yasin run out 93
Saeed bin Nasir c Ahmed b F. Rasheed 11
Sarfraz Ahmed b Prince 73
Mohammad Rameez lbw b Ayub 7
Zulfiqar Babar c Kamran b Prince 51
Tabish Khan c Adnan b Prince 8
M. Junaid Khan not out 1
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-6, W-4) 14
TOTAL (all out, 99.3 overs) 412
FALL OF WKTS 1-21, 2-21, 3-74, 4-227, 5-239, 6-301, 7-327, 8-379, 9-410.
BOWLING Bilawal Bhatti 26-6-101-2 (1w); Faisal Rasheed 33-4-130-3 (3w); Prince Abbas 22-7-62-2; Nayyar Abbas 14.3-0-80-1; Kamran Younis 2-0-18-0; M. Ayub Dogar 2-0-11-1.
SIALKOT (1st Innings)
Kamran Younis b Zulfiqar 61
Hafiz Majid Jahangir c Naeem b Tabish 63
Mohammad Saeed run out 8
M. Ayub Dogar c Naeem b Tabish 35
Faisal Khan not out 54
Adnan Butt c and b Rameez 19
Nayyar Abbas not out 14
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-11, W-6, NB-5) 26
TOTAL (for five wkts, 78 overs) 280
FALL OF WKTS 1-115, 2-125, 3-158, 4-197, 5-246.
TO BAT Ahmed Butt, Bilawal Bhatti, Faisal Rasheed, Prince Abbas.
BOWLING (to-date) Mohammad Rameez 17-1-76-1 (1nb, 1w); M. Junaid Khan 21-2-49-0; Tabish Khan 14-2-73-2 (3nb, 1w); Zulfiqar Babar 21-5-55-1; Saeed Anwar Jr 1-0-4-0; Kashif Siddique 4-1-8-0 (1nb).