KARACHI: Shan Masood and Imran Butt provided an eye-catching start for Balochistan, helping the side score 283/5 on the first day of their ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (QEAT) fixture at NBP Sports Complex here on Monday.
In the first match of the on-going eighth-round match of QEAT, Central Punjab’s skipper – Muhammad Saad invited Balochistan to bat first.
In response, Balochistan openers Shan and Imran provided a solid start to the side as the pair put on a brilliant 151-run stand. Shan went onto smash another century in the ongoing season, he top-scored with magnificent 102 laced with 13 boundaries and three maximums.
Imran, was also handy at the other end, as the right-handed batter scored a valiant 65 that saw the ball cross the boundary eight times.
As soon as the openers were sent back to the pavilion, and the team began to lose wickets at a rapid pace. Ayaz Tasawar (36*) and Kashif Bhatti (30*) anchored the innings with gritty knocks. Balochistan will now resume their innings on day two with a score of 283/5.
Zafar Gohar and Hussain Talat each bagged two wickets for the Central, while Bilawal Iqbal struck out a batter.
In another eighth-round match, table-toppers Sindh declared the innings for a paltry 98/9 in the first innings of their ongoing match against Northern. Mir Hamza scored 18* followed by highest run-scorer of the side, Omair Bin Yousuf with 33 runs.
Northern’s Ather Mahmood bagged four wickets, while Kashif Ali took two. Muhammad Musa fanned a batter.
Northern openers failed to provide a solid start to the team as well, losing their first two wickets for just 18 runs.
Sarmad Bhatti, a left-handed batter, and his skipper, Umer Amin, put on a valiant century stand to keep the side out of trouble. Northern’s innings will resume on day two with Sarmad (53*) and Umer (69*) at 136/2.
For Sindh, Sohail Khan bagged two wickets on the first day’s play.
In the third match of the ongoing round of QEAT, Khyber Pakhtunkwa bowling attack trapped Southern Punjab’s batters completely. They were bundled out for a skimpy 166 runs in the first innings. Yousuf Babar scored 28 followed by highest run-scorer of the side, Muhammad Imran with 64 runs.
For KPK, right-arm pacer Arshad Iqbal bagged four wickets, while Asif Afridi and Irfan Ullah Shah each claimed two wickets. Sameen Gull, on the other hand, struck out a batter.
KPK openers failed to get their team off to a good start in response to Southern’s 166, and the side lost their first two wickets with only 45 runs on the board.
Ashfaq Ahmed (15*) and night-watchman Arshad (0*) will resume the proceedings for KPK at 45/2 on the second-day.
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