Sohail, Zohaib rattle Multan as Karachi Blues eye lead

KARACHI: Test pacer Sohail Khan and his new ball partner Zohaib Shera claimed seven wickets between them to put Karachi Blues on the brink of taking a substantial lead against Multan in their Pool A outing of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Grade-II on Friday.

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Sohail (4-84) and left-arm pacer Shera (3-57) reduced Multan to 148-9 in their first innings in response to Karachi Blues’ total of 255.

Kashif Naved made a solid 47 off 77 balls, striking seven fours.

Shehzad Ali scored 42 off 75 deliveries, smacking seven boundaries.

Earlier, Karachi Blues scored 255-9 in the stipulated 83 overs in their first innings thanks to international left-hander Fawad Alam’s unbeaten 84. Fawad smashed seven fours in his fine 121-ball feat. Majid Ali got 3-56.

In Pool B clash at Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad, Mohammad Yasin smashed a superb 102 off 167 balls to enable Sialkot post 333 all out after resuming their first innings at 60-1 against Faisalabad.

Salman Ali struck 66 off 81 deliveries, hitting five fours and a six.

Earlier it was Nauman Anwar who played a solid 59 at the top of the order to provide a strong foundation to his side.

Nauman, known for his fiery batting, smacked nine fours and a six in his valuable fifty.

Left-arm spinner Imran Khalid was the pick of the bowlers with 6-127.

Faisalabad were 85-2 in response at stumps.

Tanvir Javed was batting on 34 and with him was Atif Manzoor on 19.

In Pool A encounter at Dring Stadium Bahawalpur, Quetta reached 214-3 in their second innings at stumps after gaining a 32-run first innings lead, for an overall lead of 246.

Abdul Hanan scored 70 off 88 balls, hammering ten fours. Asif Minhal was batting on 59 in which he had hit seven fours.

In response to Quetta’s first innings lead of 215 all out, Larkana perished for 183. Ghulam Taseen (44) and Asif Babar (43) were the leading scorers. Gohar Faiz, right-arm pacer, did a fine job for Quetta by taking 5-42 in 14.1 overs.