KARACHI: After conceding a substantial lead, Sindh on Wednesday recovered in the second innings after initial hiccups on the second day of their seventh round fixture of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2021-2022 against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa here at the SBP Ground.
Having conceded a 120-run lead, Sindh had a brittle start when they lost Ahsan Ali (2) and Omair Bin Yousuf (9) early in their second innings. However, at that stage Khurram Manzoor (59*) and skipper Asad Shafiq (50*) did a fine job by sharing a 126-run unbroken third wicket partnership to bring the leaders back in the game. Sindh were 137-2 in 43 overs at stumps, 17 runs ahead with eight wickets in hand.
Khurram smashed seven fours in his 136-ball fine resistance. Asad smacked eight fours from 96 balls and a lot depends on this pair when Sindh resume their innings on Thursday (today) on a pitch which is assisting pacemen.
Fast bowler Irfanullah Shah added to his five-wicket haul in the first innings by claiming 1-24 while Arshad Iqbal took the other wicket of Omair when he nipped in one that found the batsman just in front of the wickets.
Earlier, in response to Sindh’s first innings total of 145, KP resumed their innings at 124-2 and declared at 265-9 in 64.1 overs. Musaddiq Ahmed fell for 75 after adding only three runs to his overnight total. Skipper Iftikhar Ahmed lost his wicket for 40 after adding six to his overnight score. Asif Afridi, who had a decent bowling stint with his left-arm spinners on Tuesday, also did a fine job with the willow, scoring 50 off 44 balls, smacking seven fours and one six.
Sohail Khan was the pick of the bowlers with 5-82. Left-arm pacer Mir Hamza ably backed his senior new-ball partner with 3-63.
At the NBP Sports Complex, young international star Haider Ali (206) hit his maiden double century as Northern declared their first innings at 445-8 after resuming at 323-3 against Central Punjab. Haider, who was batting on 141 on Tuesday, smacked 27 fours and four sixes in his super 221-ball knock. He stayed at the crease for 294 minutes.
He dominated the 229-run fourth wicket stand with Faizan Riaz, who fell for 67 after adding only ten runs to his overnight score. Faizan smashed seven fours from 148 balls.
Fast bowler Mohammad Ali got 3-68. Ahmad Safi Abdullah and leggie Usman Qadir claimed two wickets each.
In response, Central Punjab were reeling at 323-8 in 60.3 overs at stumps. They still need 122 runs to avoid conceding lead. Hussain Talat (51), Imran Dogar (43), Ali Zaryab (37) and Mohammad Saad (38) were the prominent scorers.
Haris Rauf got 6-41 in 15 overs.
At UBL Sports Complex, Yousuf Babar hit 119 not out as Southern Punjab were folded for 483 in 117.5 overs after resuming their first innings at 327-3 against Balochistan.
Yousuf, who was batting on 45 on Tuesday, hit 13 fours in his 203-ball knock. He added 71 runs for the seventh wicket stand with Amir Yamin, who chipped in with a 43 off 33 balls.
Earlier, Agha Salman, who was batting on 117, fell for 135, having smacked 17 fours from 209 balls.
Khurram Shehzad and Akif Javed got three wickets each. Spinner Kashif Bhatti claimed two wickets.
In response, Shan Masood hammered 105 as Balochistan reached 276-4 in 44.5 overs. Shan hit 17 fours and one six from 82 balls and added 85 for the third wicket stand with Akbar-ur-Rehman, who scored 32. Later Ayaz Tasawar (58*) and Bismillah Khan (57*) shared 92 runs for the fifth wicket unbroken stand. Amir Yamin and spinner Ali Usman got two wickets each.