LAHORE: Northern took control on the third day of their seventh round Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match against Sindh despite a fighting century from Fawad Alam at the National Stadium here on Wednesday.
Northern had accumulated an overall lead of 255 runs after reaching 173 for two in their second innings at stumps when bad light again forced play to be called off with 12 overs remaining in the day.
The cornerstone of the second innings was an attractive, unbeaten 96 runs off 131 balls by Zeeshan Malik who shared an undefeated third-wicket stand of 63 runs with first innings double centurion Faizan Riaz.
Zeeshan played a free-flowing innings hitting 13 fours and two sixes, but Faizan, who had scored a rapid 211 in the first innings from just 200 balls, played a more subdued role as he faced 56 balls.
The two came together after Mir Hamza dismissed Umar Amin (21), having him caught in the slip cordon while Shoaib Minhas was later bowled by Sohail Khan for 29.
Umar was looking in fine touch as he hit four boundaries in his 22-ball knock. Earlier Northern skipper Nauman Ali took 5 for 58, his fourth five-wicket haul of the season, to bowl Sindh out for 326 runs. Nauman produced quality bowling on a slow pitch when Sindh had resumed on 247 for 5, with Fawad Alam on 75 and Anwar Ali on 41.
Fawad went on to make his 32nd first-class century as he put on a 126-run partnership for the sixth wicket with all-rounder Anwar, who made 69 off 168 balls. Fawad scored 107 runs from 161 balls with 14 boundaries while Anwar batted patiently, hitting nine fours.
It was Nauman who broke the partnership after having Fawad caught by Faizan. Later, he also picked up the wicket of Anwar. Sindh were dismissed shortly after lunch, conceding a lead of 82 runs.
Meanwhile, Ashfaq Ahmed joined Sami Aslam and Imran Butt in crossing the 600-run mark with his fourth century of the season, eighth overall, which helped Khyber Pakhtunkhwa collect maximum batting points against Southern Punjab in Abbottabad.
Ashfaq started at the overnight score of 81 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 162 for 2 in reply to Southern Punjab’s 338 all out. He was dismissed after scoring 143, allowing his side to declare their first innings on 417 for five.
This effort meant Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bagged the five available batting points, while Southern Punjab had to contend with one bowling point.
When stumps were drawn for the day, Southern Punjab, trailing by 79 runs in the first innings, were 15 for no loss. Sami Aslam (11) and Umer Siddiq (4) will resume the innings on the final morning on Thursday (today).
Ashfaq is the third batsman after Southern Punjab’s Sami Aslam (683) and Balochistan’s Imran Butt (673) to break the 600-run barrier. The 33-year-old is now the second leading run-getter with 675 runs from nine innings of seven matches.
Salman Butt of Central Punjab (531), Balochistan’s Imran Farhat (525) and Haider Ali of Northern (503) are also chasing the top-three.
Ashfaq, playing in his 52nd first-class match, struck 18 fours and a six in his 254-ball innings. After putting on 73 for the second wicket with Sahibzada Farhan on Tuesday, Ashfaq stitched a 114-run partnership for the third wicket with Adil Amin (37).
The other big partnership was for the sixth wicket between wicketkeeper-batsman Rehan Afridi and Zohaib Khan. The pair added 127 runs without being separated. Rehan returned unbeaten on 87 off 105 balls (14x4) while Zohaib scored 63 not out off 130 balls (7x4).
For Southern Punjab, Umaid Asif was the most successful bowler with 3 for 142. At Gaddafi Stadium, Central Punjab rode on the half-centuries by Umar Akmal and Usman Salahuddin to add 227 runs to their total against Balochistan before play had to be called off early because of bad light.
Central Punjab were 255 for 6, after resuming their innings on 28 for two, before stumps were drawn for the day in which 58.4 overs were bowled.
Umar recorded his 41st half-century in first-class cricket, scoring 78 runs. His 102-ball stay at the crease was studded with 11 fours and a six. Usman struck his second half-century on the trot and was unbeaten on 74 off 129 balls. The 28-year-old whacked 10 boundaries. The pair knitted a crucial 124-run partnership for the fifth wicket to rescue Central Punjab from a precarious position.
Balochistan had tightened the screws around the hosts by taking two early wickets which left them reeling at 84 for four. Opener Salman Butt added 32 runs to his overnight score of 15 before he fell three runs short of reaching his first-class career’s 34th half-century.
For Balochistan, Mohammad Asghar picked up two more wickets on Wednesday. He has so far captured three wickets for 81 runs in 24 overs. Right-arm medium-fast bowlers Khurram Shehzad and Hussain Talat picked up a wicket each.
On Thursday (today), Usman will resume Central Punjab’s innings with Zafar Gohar (8).