KARACHI: Balochistan recorded their second win to stay alive in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (first-class) when they demolished second-placed Northern by an innings and five runs thanks to superb bowling from spinners Kashif Bhatti and Raza-ul-Hasan on the third day of their four-day match here at the UBL Sports Complex on Tuesday.
The win took Balochistan to 102 points with one game in hand. After securing a 169-run lead Balochistan dismissed Northern for only 164 in 45 overs in their second innings. Sarmad Bhatti (31), Umar Amin (29) and Hammad Azam (20) were the notable contributors. Left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti emerged as the hero for Balochistan as he captured 4-67 in 20 overs, finishing the show with 9-142. Off-spinner Raza-ul-Hasan got 4-50, for match figures of 7-117.
Northern had scored 203 in their first innings. In reply, Balochistan posted 372.
Here at National Stadium, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa declared their first innings at 312-7 after resuming at 180-3 in response to Central Punjab’s total of 351-7 declared.
Adil Amin top-scored with 96, which came off 276 balls. The right-handed experienced batsman hammered 14 fours during his patient knock, which lasted 415 minutes. Adil, who was batting on 50 on Monday, shared 130 for the fourth wicket association with Zohaib Khan, who chipped in with a solid 75. Zohaib, who resumed with his overnight score of 23, hammered eight fours in his 188-ball knock. Off-spinner Qasim Akram was the pick of the bowlers with 5-51 in 17 overs.
At the end of the day’s play, Central Punjab were 89-3 in 27 overs. Mohammad Saad was batting on 46 and with him at the other end was Qasim Akram on 12. Saad had struck six fours from 79 balls.
Irfanullah Shah, Arshad Iqbal and Sameen Gul took one wicket each. The match seems to be heading towards a draw as Wednesday (today) is the final day. KP have so far accumulated 143 points, which means that they have qualified for the final.
Here at SBP Ground, Sindh set a 370-run target for Southern Punjab who had reached 61-1 with Zain Abbas batting on 28 and Imran Rafiq on 26.
Earlier, having conceded a 30-run lead, Sindh resumed their second innings at 80 without loss and went on to declare it at 399-5 in 85 overs.
The highlight of Sindh’s innings was a superb unbeaten 123 from left-handed batsman Saud Shakeel who hit his third century of the season. He now has 871 runs in the season, 22 short of leading batsman Kamran Ghulam of KP, who has 893 runs.
Saud was involved in two big partnerships. He added 95 runs for the fourth wicket stand with skipper Asad Shafiq, who made 55 off 79 balls. Asad smashed six fours and one six.
Saud then shared 124 for the fifth wicket association with Saad Ali, who belted 62 off 82 balls, hammering seven fours and one six.
Earlier, openers Khurram Manzoor (29) and Sharjeel Khan (74) provided a 99-run start to Sindh. Sharjeel smashed nine fours and three sixes in his 74-ball knock. Aamer Yamin got 3-65.