Misbah, Ahmed put Faisalabad on verge of victory

KARACHI: Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq struck his second successive century and spinner Ahmed Safi took four wickets to put Faisalabad on the verge of a huge victory against Abbottabad on the second day of their three-day Group B outing of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Grade-II here at National Stadium on Friday.

Misbah, who was batting on 82 on Thursday, blasted 133 to enable Faisalabad to post 313 all out after resuming their first innings at 178-3 in response to Abbottabad’s total of 103.

Misbah, who had hit 111 in his team’s previous outing at the same venue, cracked 15 fours and two sixes from 181 balls as Faisalabad gained a 210-run lead to tighten noose around their rivals.

Khurram Shehzad, who was not out on 24 on the first day on Thursday, fell for 39 which came off 76 balls and had five fours and one six.

Sohail Akhtar got 4-94. Mohammad Ikram Ullah claimed three and spinner Khalid Usman captured two wickets.

After conceding a huge lead, Abbottabad once again failed to give a befitting response to their rivals and were reeling at 197-8 in their second innings at stumps. They still need 14 more runs to avoid an innings defeat. Ahmed Safi was ably backed by left-arm pacer Waqas Maqsood with 3-48.

The victory will enable Faisalabad to finish as the group champions. They have already qualified for the semi-finals of the ten-team event.

Meanwhile in the other show of the same group at Niaz Stadium Hyderabad, Hyderabad set a 321-run target for Quetta when after gaining a 82-run lead, they were bowled out for 238 in their second innings at stumps.

Mir Dad Khan struck a fine 90 which came off 106 balls and had eight fours and three sixes. Rizwan Ahmed (44) and Haris Khan (23) were the other main contributors.

Spinner Hamal Wahab bowled superbly, picking 7-91 for a match-haul of 9-128. Quetta were 15-1 at close in their second innings.

Earlier, in response to Hyderabad’s first innings total of 220, Quetta resumed their innings at 55-1 and perished for 138 with Bismillah Khan scoring 31 and Mohammad Ilyas making 27. Nasir Awais captured 6-70 while Nauman Ali picked 4-49.

In Group A clash at Multan Stadium, Multan gained a 270-run lead when in response to Bahawalpur they resumed their first innings at 137-2 and posted 460-8 in the allotted 83 overs.

Left-handed opener Zain Abbas, who was batting on 70 on Thursday, went on to score 142 off 195 balls. Zain’s superb knock featured 22 fours.

Pakistan’s hard-hitting batsman Sohaib Maqsood chipped in with 97 which came off 90 balls and had ten fours. Abdul Rehman Muzammil made 90 off 72 balls, striking ten fours and four sixes. Mazahar Bashir and Imranullah got three wickets each.

Bahawalpur were 98-3 in their second innings at stumps. They still need 172 more runs to avert an innings defeat.

At Dring Stadium Bahawalpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) took lead when after scoring 287 in their first innings they dismissed Sialkot for 218 who resumed their innings at 35-2. Ayaz Tasawwar belted 76 off 124 balls, striking eight fours. Naved Sarwar made 47 with four hits to the fence. Naved Malik got 5-21.

AJK were reeling at 101-5 in their second innings at stumps with Naved Malik scoring 47 with seven fours. Adil Raza and spinner Mansoor Amjad got two wickets each.