KARACHI: Northern’s Muhammad Huraira scored a magnificent double-hundred to put his side in the commanding position against Balochistan, in the last round match of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (QEAT), here at State Bank Stadium, today.
Northern’s openers, resumed at an overnight score of 28-0, extended their partnership to a massive 365 before the centurion, Sarmad Bhatti departed after scoring an astonishing 135; facing 243 balls, the batter smashed 16 boundaries and two sixes.
Star of the day for Northern, Huraira, on the other hand, was even more handy, as the batter went onto smash his maiden First-class double century, he remained not-out on 243; facing a mammoth 265 balls, and smashed 30 boundaries and four sixes.
Following the heroic innings from the duo, Northern ended the second day of their final round fixture at 449/2; leading with 144 runs. Huraira (243*) and Umer Amin (17*) will resume the proceedings for the side on third day.
For Balochistan, Najeeb Ullah Achakzai and Akif Javed, each struck out a batter.
In another tenth round match, Southern Punjab (SP) are leading by 23 runs against Sindh; scoring 333/6 in response to Sindh’s 310 in the first innings. Zeeshan Ashraf of SP, scored a terrific century on the penultimate day to put the SP on to the driving seat.
Earlier in the day, Sindh resumed at an overnight score of 275/5, could not add much to their total; losing their last five wickets for just 35 runs. Returning to the side, Sarfaraz Ahmed top-scored for the Sindh on the penultimate; remaining not-out on 34. The batting tail made little to none contribution, and Sindh, in the end, bowled out for 310.
In response, SP openers, Tayyab Tahir (69) and Umer Siddique (30) provided a solid start to the team before Zeeshan scored an outstanding 108; facing 100 balls, he smashed 11 boundaries and six maximums.
Later, Yousuf Babar and Azam Khan, chipped in with valuable 64 and 48 runs, respectively; keeping their side on top.
Ali Usman (5*) and Muhammad Junaid (2*) will now resume the proceedings for SP at 333/6 on the third day.
For Sindh, Muhammad Asghar and Zahid Mahmood, each took two wickets, whereas, Shahnawaz Dahani and Asad Shafique shared one wicket apiece.
At UBL Sports Complex, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) are in strong position against Central Punjab (CP); having a gigantic lead of 334 runs, in the second innings.
Earlier, KPK, resumed at an overnight score of 305/7, added a valuable 50-runs for the loss of three wickets; posting a commendable 355 on the board. Sajid Khan converted his overnight (48*) into a half-centrury; scoring 51 off 53 balls.
For CP, Faheem Ashraf and Muhammad Ali took three wicket each. Hussain Talat and Bilawal Iqbal, on the other hand, each struck out a batter.
In response, KPK bowlers trapped the CP batting line-up completely, with none of their batters could go big, and the CP, eventually, bundled out for a skimpy 110; handing 195 runs lead to their opposition.
For KPK, Imran Khan (Snr.) and Sameen Gull each took three wickets, whereas, Sajid claimed a wicket.
In their second innings, KPK, again started brilliantly, ending the second day at 89/0, as Fakhar Zaman and Sahibzada Farhan batted brilliantly, Fakhar remained not-out on 48, while Farhan scored an unbeaten 40. The pair will now resume the proceedings for KPK on the third day.
READ: Shan misses double century but Balochistan in control against Northern
