CP thrive on ton-up Saad but KP make strong response

KARACHI: Former Pakistan international Saad Nasim hammered a stroke-filled century before Quaid-e-Azam holders Central Punjab opted to declare their first innings against leaders Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on day two of the ninth-round fixture at the National Stadium here on Monday.

Currently languishing at fourth spot in the standings, Central Punjab are left with no choice to win at least one of their two remaining matches to stay in the hunt for the Jan 1-5 final — most probably against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who are way ahead at the top with a difference of 29 points over second-placed Northern.

Therefore, Hasan Ali acted wisely by deciding to close Central Punjab’s innings in the 18th over of the first session. At that point Central Punjab had reached 351-7 with Saad leading the way by scoring an undefeated 136 — just three runs shy of his highest first-class score — which was the 30-year-old’s seventh three-figure knock in 99 games.

The right-hander — who had played three One-day Internationals and as many Twenty20 Interna­tionals between 2014 and 2015 —struck 12 boundaries and six sixes during his 189-ball effort after res­uming at his overnight score of 81.

Wicket-keeper Ali Shan contributed 43 while putting on 85 for the sixth wicket with Saad.

But Central Punjab’s hopes of applying pressure on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa batsmen suffered a huge blow when their new-ball spearhead Waqas Maqsood hurt his ankle midway through his first spell. However, he returned late in the day but remained ineffective as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa made a fitting response by reaching draw of stumps at 180-3.

In a welcome return to form, Pakistan opener Fakhar Zaman hit up 42 — a 70-ball innings that contained several lovely drives in the arc between cover and mid-off — while striking six boundaries before he mistimed the ball against off-spinner Qasim Akram and was caught at mid-on.

Israrullah, who added 79 in the left-handed opening stand with Fakhar, made 40 before he also perished to the same bowler when an attempted sweep went in the air and landed in the lap of Saad Nasim at midwicket.

Qasim followed those strikes with the prized scalp of Kamran Ghulam — the right-hander who had gone past 150 in the previous three matches — after the championship’s leading run-getter had made just 20 before he was bowled.

Adil Amin, fresh from his 172 against Southern Punjab last week, was batting on 50 alongside Zohaib Khan (23) while the underused Qasim has so far taken 3-26 in 10 overs.

Northern are finding the going tough at the UBL Sports Complex after Balochistan posted 372 to enjoy a commanding first-innings lead of 169. Akbar-ur-Rehman was the top-scorer with 82 while captain Imran Farhat hit up 77 and Ayaz Tasawwar 69 after Balochistan began play at 92-0.

Northern skipper Nauman Ali grabbed his sixth five-for this season as the slow left-armer claimed 6-107 in 46.1 overs. Seamer Waqas Ahmed took 3-63.

After being bowled out for a moderate 217 on Sunday, Sindh hit back strongly to restrict Southern Punjab lead to just 30 by dismissing them for 247 at the SBP Sports Complex.

Imran Rafiq was the mainstay of Southern Punjab batting with 67 while slow left-armer Mohammad Asghar snared four wickets for 81 runs from 26.1 overs and impressive paceman Shahnawaz Dhani grabbed 3-67.

Sindh had already wiped off the deficit by collecting 80-0 in 17 overs of their second innings when play ended for the day. Sharjeel Khan led the onslaught with 45 with Khurram Manzoor, playing a supportive role, on 28.

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

First XI, ninth round:

At National Stadium, Karachi: CENTRAL PUNJAB 351-7 declared in 107.5 overs (Saad Nasim 136 not out, Mohammad Saad 78, Usman Salahuddin 53, Ali Shan 43, Qasim Akram 25; Irfanullah Shah 3-53); KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 180-3 in 67 overs (Adil Amin 50 not out, Fakhar Zaman 42, Israrullah 40, Zohaib Khan 23 not out, Kamran Ghulam 20; Qasim Akram 3-26).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: NORTHERN 203 in 62.1 overs (Ali Sarfraz 38, Nasir Nawaz 31, Mohammad Nawaz 26, Waqas Ahmed 26, Sarmad Bhatti 25, Mubasir Khan 25; Kashif Bhatti 5-75, Raza-ul-Hasan 3-67); BALOCHISTAN 372 in 116.1 overs (Akbar-ur-Rehman 82, Imran Farhat 77, Ayaz Tasawwar 69, Ali Rafiq 36, Kashif Bhatti 35, Ali Waqas 29; Nauman Ali 6-107, Waqas Ahmed 3-63).

At SBP Sports Complex, Karachi: SINDH 217 in 64.4 overs (Mohammad Hasan 111, Saad Ali 79; Aamir Yamin 3-31, Zahid Mahmood 3-49, Zia-ul-Haq 3-63) and 80-0 in 17 overs (Sharjeel Khan 45 not out, Khurram Manzoor 28 not out); SOUTHERN PUNJAB 247 in 81.1 overs (Imran Rafiq 67, Zain Abbas 39, Aamir Yamin 35, Saif Badar 33; Mohammad Asghar 4-81, Shahnawaz Dhani 3-67, Tabish Khan 2-39).