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KARACHI: Northern’s in-form skipper Nauman Ali became the first bowler this season to cross the 50-wicket landmark in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy here on Wednesday, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kamran Ghulam slammed his second century in as many matches.
The 34-year-old Nauman — who was also the only player last season to cross the milestone with a haul of 54 wickets from 10 matches — brought up the magical figure by bowling Central Punjab captain Hasan Ali to finish with outstanding figures of seven for 84 in 24 overs at the UBL Sports Complex. It was the 17th five-for in first-class cricket for the wily slow left-armer.
Resuming at 49-0, Central Punjab conceded a slim lead of nine runs to Northern when they were restricted to 234 all out with Mohammad Akhlaq, who had retired on Tuesday evening, returning to top score with 67. His opening partner Ali Zaryab hit up 45.
Northern reached 77-2 in their second innings to hold an overall lead of 86 runs when stumps were drawn for the day.
Kamran followed his 153 in the previous fixture against Balochistan came to the party with his sixth hundred and second of the championship. The 25-year-old right-hander compiled an undefeated 124 to enable Khyber Pakhtunkhwa collect 260-4 in response to Sindh’s 229 at the SBP Sports Complex.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa stuttered upfront when they started play on day two of this seventh-round encounter at 5-0. Veteran paceman Tabish Khan sent back openers Israrullah (0) and Musadiq Ahmed (14) with 20 runs on the board.
But Kamran — who leads the batting chart with 671 runs at this point in time — joined Fakhar Zaman in a decisive partnership of 143 to tilt the balance in favour of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Fakhar, who was withdrawn from the Pakistan squad for the ongoing tour of New Zealand at the eleventh hour after reporting ill, made up for double failures against Balochistan by contributing 62 off 139 balls.
Wicket-keeper Rehan Afridi also played a supporting role in helping Kamran, who has thus far struck 13 boundaries during his 241-ball effort, put on 50 for the unbroken fifth-wicket stand.
Despite a late act of defiance from Balochistan, Southern Punjab were in a commanding position during their televised clash at the National Stadium with discarded Pakistan pace-bowling all-rounder Aamir Yamin playing a lead role.
Balochistan were down in the mire at 16-4 by stumps on day one bit they recovered partially on the back of a fighting innings of 76 from the left-handed Ayaz Tasawwar to post 164 in response to Southern Punjab’s 256.
Aamir marked his 50th first-class appearance by adding three more wickets to his overnight analysis of 3-4 before ending up with brilliant return of 6-47.
Southern Punjab started their second innings with a cushion of 92 runs on the first innings and were already well in front as they closed the day on 149-2 to enjoy an overall lead of 241.
Close of play scores on Wednesday (day two of four):
First XI, seventh round:
At National Stadium, Karachi: SOUTHERN PUNJAB 256 in 79.5 overs (Agha Salman 50, Zahid Mahmood 45, Zain Abbas 40, Saif Badar 24, Mohammad Imran 24; Taj Wali 3-66, Umaid Asif 2-35, Jalat Khan 2-64, Kashif Bhatti 2-90) and 149-2 in 52 overs (Imran Rafiq 60 not out, Saif Badar 43 not out, Zain Abbas 33; Jalat Khan 2-49); BALOCHISTAN 164 in 41.4 overs (Ayaz Tasawwar 76, Bismillah Khan 24, Jalat Khan 20; Aamir Yamin 6-47, Mohammad Ilyas 2-53).
At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: NORTHERN 243 in 57 overs (Asif Ali 72 not out, Mohammad Nawaz 50, Hammad Azam 47, Umar Amin 29; Hasan Ali 4-48, Bilawal Iqbal 3-91, Ahmed Safi Abdullah 2-31) and 77-2 in 33.2 overs (Nasir Nawaz 42); CENTRAL PUNJAB 234 in 81 overs (Mohammad Akhlaq 67, Ali Zaryab 45, Qasim Akram 31, Saad Nasim 30; Nauman Ali 7-84).
At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: SINDH 229 in 81.2 overs (Asad Shafiq 60, Sharjeel Khan 57, Omair Bin Yousuf 24, Hasan Mohsin 24; Irfanullah Shah 5-33, Sajid Khan 3-66); KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 260-4 in 86.2 overs (Kamran Ghulam 124 not out, Fakhar Zaman 62, Rehan Afridi 30 not out; Tabish Khan 2-51).