RAWALPINDI: Right-arm pacer Ali Shafiq’s four-wicket haul powered Lahore Blues to restrict Faisalabad to 211/8 despite Mohammad Abubakar Khan and Ali Shan’s half-centuries on Day 2 of the third-round fixture of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (QeAT) 2023/24.
Faisalabad started their day at 53 for three. Mohammad Abubakar Khan and Ali Shan recovered the loss concurred by their side for losing their top three cheaply; the two batters scored 115 runs together.
Both Abubakar and Ali got half-centuries to their name which lent the side some confidence and stability. However, once the partnership was broken, Faisalabad’s woes continued, as they lost three wickets after that.
Lahore Blues’ bowlers had a proactive day; Ali Shafiq returned with four wickets while Kashif Bhatti and Nisar Ahmed had two wickets each.
Faisalabad ended the day at 211 at the loss of eight wickets.
In another QEAT fixture, Peshawar acquired a valuable 29-run lead against Rawalpindi, courtesy of a five-wicket haul by Niaz Khan and an unbeaten 93 by Waqas Ahmed Snr.
Rawalpindi started the day at 46 for three. The difficulty they saw during batting the previous day continued and none of the batters could hold their ground long enough to sustain any significant damage towards the opposition bowlers.
The highest score of the innings came from Syed Aqib Shah’s bat who scored 37 runs. Peshawar bowlers, particularly Niaz Khan who had five wickets to his name, troubled Rawalpindi who were eventually bowled out for 137 runs only.
A 59-run-stand between Waqas Ahmed Snr and skipper Sahibzada Farhan gave Peshawar a solid start after they lost their first wicket for just 30 runs. After this partnership was broken and two new batters –Kamran Ghulam and Abuzar Tariq – too were removed cheaply, Peshawar lost some of their momentum.
However, it was recovered by an unbeaten 79-run-stand between Waqas and Abbas Ali. Both of them remained at the crease, taking the side to 186 runs when stumps were called.
After Day 1 of the third-round QEAT fixture between FATA and Karachi Region Whites was washed out due to persistent rain in Rawalpindi. FATA won the toss and elected to bowl first on Day 2.
Karachi Whites had an abysmal start to their innings, as they lost four important wickets very early in the innings.
Khurram Manzoor scored just six runs, while the three batters next on the list were all dismissed without scoring a run. Karachi found themselves in an extremely sticky situation, having lost four wickets for just eight runs.
Rameesh Aziz and Danish Aziz took to the crease and began the rebuilding for their side. Between the two, Karachi managed to add 56 runs to their total.
Karachi ended the day at 64 at the loss of four wickets.
The second day of the 11th match of the ongoing QEAT between Lahore Region Whites and Multan was washed out.