Rahat, Aamer push Southern Punjab close to big win over Sindh

KARACHI: Discarded Test-pacer Rahat Ali and Aamer Yamin enabled Southern Punjab to force Sindh to follow on on the third day of their fourth round four-day fixture of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (first-class) here at UBL Sports Complex on Monday.

In response to Southern Punjab’s first innings total of 546, Sindh resumed their innings at 90-1 and were skittled out for 284 in 99.1 overs. Skipper Asad Shafiq led from the front, scoring 57 off 121 balls before being trapped lbw by Rahat.

Asad smacked eight fours. He added 66 for the fifth wicket with left-handed Saad Ali, who fell for 55 which came off 110 balls and had ten glorious fours. Abid Ali fell for 46 after adding only four runs to his overnight score. Rahat took 4-66. He was ably backed by Aamer Yamin (2-26) and Zahid Mehmood (2-94). Aamer then took 2-23 to reduce Sindh to 58-3 in their second innings. Omair Yousuf was batting on 33. With him at the other end was Fawad Alam on 12. Sindh still need 204 runs to avoid an innings defeat.

Meanwhile, Kamran Akmal hit 136 off 215 balls to guide Central Punjab to post 278 all out after resuming their first innings at 45-2 in response to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s total of 484-5 declared. Kamran hammered 19 fours and one six to single-handedly guide his side to a respectable total.

Fast bowler Sameen Gul got 4-57. KP did not enforce follow-on and were 30-1 in their second innings at close. At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi, left-arm spinner Nauman Ali took five wickets as Northern dismissed Balochistan for 301.

At stumps, Northern, who scored 450 all out in the first innings, were 75 without loss in 18 overs. They have an overall lead of 224 runs. Zeeshan Malik made up for his failure in the first innings with an aggressive unbeaten 54 off 59 balls. He hit eight fours and a six. Haider Ali, who scored a century in the first innings, was 20 not out.

At the bottom of the points table after three rounds, Northern will be looking to play at a brisk pace, set Balochistan a target and then put Imran Farhat’s team under pressure on the last day.

Balochistan resumed the day at the overnight score of 119 for two, relatively well placed. But they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were not successful in stitching a big partnership to challenge Northern’s first innings total.

Asif Zakir played a fine innings of 61, which included nine fours, off 129 deliveries. He shared an 82-run fifth-wicket partnership with Bismillah Khan (30). Imran Butt added only one run to his overnight score of 58. Amad Butt contributed 23.

Nauman, who dismissed Abubakar Khan (50) before bad light brought a premature end to Sunday’s play, bowled a tight line and length and troubled almost all batsmen. The left-arm spinner was rewarded for his hard work and finished with impressive figures of 5-52. Haris Rauf also bowled well, taking three wickets for 73 runs. Balochistan earned three batting points, while Northern secured three bowling points.