KARACHI: Northern’s openers batted brilliantly and partnered strongly to help their side fightback against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KPK) 375 in the final of the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (QEAT).

Northern’s openers showed fightback after KPK finished their first innings at 375. The side ended the second day of the final at 184/3.

In the pink-ball final of the premium tournament, Northern openers – Mohammad Huraira and Haider Ali batted superbly; recording a magnificent century partnership for the first wicket. The pair added exactly 100 runs before Huraira dismissed soon after scoring an important half-century. He scored 51, including seven boundaries and a six.

Haider, however, looked in more control. The batter played some lovely shots in his inning of 81; smacking 14 boundaries. Following Haider’s dismissal Umer Amin joined Sarmad Bhatti on the crease. But, Amin’s stay on the crease was a brief one. He managed to score just four.

Sarmad Bhatti is looking solid with his unbeaten 39, including three boundaries. He along with Faizan Riaz (1*) will now resume the innings for Northern at 184/3 on the third day.

For KPK, Sajid Khan bagged two wickets, while Sameen Gull took one wicket.

Earlier, KPK resuming at an overnight score of 252/5, lost an early wicket as Rehan Afridi departed after scoring 31. Rehan Afridi, on the other hand, batted sensibly and scored a terrific half-century. He scored 68 off 104 balls, laced with six boundaries and a maximum.

With a significant contributions from the tail, KPK managed to post a decent total of 375 in the first innings.

For Northern, Mubasir Khan starred; picking up four wickets, while Waqas Ahmed took three wickets. Mohammad Nawaz managed to take two wickets. Whereas, Kashif Ali struck out a batter.

READ: QEAT Final: KPK hold their nerves calm, finish Day 1 against Northern at 252-5