LAHORE: Faizan Riaz stroked his 14th first-class century while Umar Amin registered his 25th career century to steer Northern to 363 for six against Sindh on day three of the four-day Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.
Faizan was batting on 106 when stumps were drawn for the day after Umar Amin, who had started the day at 60, was dismissed after scoring 105 as Northern were still 97 runs behind Sindh’s 457 for eight declared. Faizan’s 252-ball innings included eight fours and a six, while Umar belted 14 fours and a six in a 209-ball knock.
After resuming the third day at 129 for two, Umar added 85 runs for the third wicket with Faizan, who has put on 71 runs for the unbroken seventh wicket with skipper Nauman Ali (36 not out).
For Sindh, Mohammad Asghar added the scalp of Umar Amin to finish the day with figures of three for 109.
At the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Test opener Imam-ul-Haq was leading Balochistan’s fightback against Central Punjab. The left-hander was batting on 72 as Balochistan ended the day at 137 for one after Central Punjab had declared their first innings at 545 for six to secure a 350-run lead.
Imam has hit eight fours in a 157-ball innings and provided his side a 132-run first wicket start with Imran Butt (53).
Earlier, Central Punjab commenced their first innings at 417 for four in reply to Balochistan’s 185 with Tayyab Tahir on 118 not out and Qasim Akram batting on 59. Tayyab was dismissed after scoring 137 (244 balls, 12×4, 1×6), while Qasim Akram was unfortunate to missed his maiden first-class century when he fell to Amad Butt at the score of 92. Qasim’s 136-ball innings included 13 fours and a six.
Aamer Yamin was the other Central Punjab batter amongst runs, when he scored 50 not out from 30 balls with seven fours and a six.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Southern Punjab match was heading for an exciting finish after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa led by 207 runs with seven wickets standing.
After conceding 68 runs first innings lead and resuming at four for one, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa saw off the third day’s play at 275 for seven with Kamran Ghulam (41) and Sajid Khan (12) at the crease.
Sahibzada Farhan was the top-scorer to date with 83 (147 balls, 12×4, 1×6) and Waqar Ahmed scored 75 (152 balls, 11×4, 1×6) as the two batters put on 162 runs for the third wicket after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had slipped to eight for two.
For Southern Punjab, fast bowler Hasan Ali (three for 67) and Ali Usman (three for 82) shared wickets.
Scores in brief:
Balochistan v Central Punjab at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi:
Balochistan 185 all out, 47.2 overs (Hussain Talat 43, Asad Shafiq 34, Haseebullah 25, Azeem Ghumman 21; Ahmed Daniyal 3-41, Mohammad Ali 3-49, Umaid Asif 2-39) and 137-1 (Imam-ul-Haq 72 not out, Imran Butt 53)
Central Punjab 535-6d, 143.3 overs (Tayyab Tahir 137, Azhar Ali 107, Qasim Akram 92, Aamer Yamin 50 not out, Mohammad Saad 38, Abdullah Shafique 36, Abid Ali 30; Hussain Talat 2-75, Akif Javed 2-116)
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Southern Punjab at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, Abbottabad:
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 240 all out, 69.2 overs (Waqar Ahmed 134 not out, Sahibzada Farhan 44; Mohammad Ilyas 4-76, Ahmed Bashir 3-31, Hasan Ali 2-42) and 275-7 (Sahibzada Farhan 83, Waqar Ahmed 75, Kamran Ghulam 41 not out; Hasan Ali 3-67, Ali Usman 3-82)
Southern Punjab 308 all out, 91.2 overs (Umar Siddiq 112, Salman Ali Agha 64, Yousuf Babar 23; Ihsanullah 3-45, Arshadullah 2-73, Arshad Iqbal 2-87)
Sindh v Northern at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad:
Sindh 457-8d, 138.5 overs (Saud Shakeel 158, Sarfaraz Ahmed 70 not out, Khurram Manzoor 58, Omair Bin Yousuf 36, Saim Ayub 35, Mohammad Asghar 29 not out, Asif Mehmood 21; Mubasir Khan 4-140)
Northern 363-6, 127 overs (Faizan Riaz 106 not out, Umar Amin 105, Sarmad Bhatti 46, Mohammad Huraira 42, Nauman Ali 36 not out; Mohammad Asghar 3-109
