Sarfaraz roars into form with unbeaten ton

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed made a timely return to form with a much-needed century as Sindh made excellent progress against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in their second-round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy encounter at the UBL Sports Complex here on Sunday.

Currently out of the national side, the 33-year-old considerably boosted his prospects of making the Pakistan squad for the tour of New Zealand later month with an undefeated knock of 131 — which was his 12th first-class century — that inspired Sindh to 361 in their first innings.

By close of play on day two of the four-day fixture, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were struggling at 136-4 in their reply on a pitch aiding the spinners.

Sohail Khan chipped in with the wicket of Israrullah, for 67.

But the day belonged to Sarfaraz. The wicket-keeper/batsman silenced his critics in the best possible manner. Resuming at 68, the right-hander batted with composure.

Sarfaraz found a reliable partner in No.10 Ashiq after Sindh lost their eighth wicket at 282 and were in danger of being bowled out for below 300. The two shared a priceless partnership of 62 until Ashiq was run out for 24.

Khalid Usman grabbed three wickets for 108 runs while Sajid Khan finished with 2-132. The two bowled 72.5 of the 127.5 overs.

Balochistan were left frustrated by a dogged stand of 52 between Agha Salman (52) and Imran Rafiq (20) after Southern Punjab had slumped to 193-5 in reply to the former’s first-innings score of 372 at the National Stadium.

Captain Shan Masood warmed up for the Test series against New Zealand with a bright innings of 67 but despite his efforts, Southern Punjab were found wanting against his Balochistan counterpart Yasir Shah. The Test spinner took three of those five wickets.

Earlier, Taimur Ali was left stranded on 86 as Balochistan added 75 to their overnight tally of 297-6. Imran Farhat, who was forced to retire with cramps after scoring exactly 100 on Saturday, returned to add another 16 runs before the former Pakistan left-hander was run out.

Defending champions Central Punjab, meanwhile, were in serious danger of succumbing to their second straight defeat after Northern built a commanding lead of 195 runs by posting 354 in their first innings at the NBP Sports Complex.

Earlier, Northern kept on piling misery on the champions as Umar Amin (94) and Asif Ali (65)extended their overnight stand to 96.

Close of play scores on Sunday (day two of four):

First XI, second round:

At National Stadium, Karachi: BALOCHISTAN 327 in 104.3 overs (Imran Farhat 116, Imran Butt 92, Taimur Ali 86 not out, Amad Butt 21; Zahid Mahmood 3-101, Mohammad Ilyas 2-60); SOUTHERN PUNJAB 245-5 in 67 overs (Shan Masood 62, Agha Salman 52 not out, Umar Siddique 47, Hussain Talat 39, Imran Rafiq 20 not out; Yasir Shah 3-90).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: SINDH 361 in 127.5 overs (Sarfaraz Ahmed 131 not out, Fawad Alam 91, Saud Shakeel 38, Asad Shafiq 26, Ashiq Ali 24; Khalid Usman 3-108, Sajid Khan 2-132); KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 136-4 in 50 overs (Israrullah 67, Adil Amin 25; Ashiq Ali 2-36).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: CENTRAL PUNJAB 159 (Ali Zaryab 78, Qasim Akram 25; Nauman Ali 4-55, Raza Hasan 3-27, Waqas Ahmed 2-35) and 64-2 in 21 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 27, Azhar Ali 24 not out; NORTHERN 354 in 100 overs (Umar Amin 94, Asif Ali 65, Hammad Azam 56, Umair Masood 36, Sarmad Bhatti 36, Raza Hasan 24; Ahmed Safi 5-106, Hasan Ali 2-36).