Wickets galore as Quaid-e-Azam Trophy second round begins

LAHORE: Ali Asad’s unbeaten 93 lifted National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to 221-5 against Lahore Region Whites on the opening day of their Pool A match of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2018-19 here at the LCCA ground on Saturday.

After they were invited to bat, NBP lost their first wicket when Rameez Raja (31) was bowled out by Bilal Anwar. Mohammad Irfan then further applied breaks on NBP’s progress by taking three wickets. But opener Ali showed resilience against some good bowling by Lahore Region Whites. He was supported well by Danish Aziz (28) early on before the latter was caught by Nauman Anwar off Mohammad Waheed’s bowling.

Ali hit seven boundaries in his 237-ball unbeaten knock.

At Diamond Ground in Islamabad, Ahmed Bashir picked 6-26 as KRL bowled out Islamabad for just 88 runs in their first innings.

The right-arm medium pacer sent Islamabad’s openers Mohammad Naeem (3) and Shoaib Khaliq (0) back to the dressing room early to trigger their collapse.

Ali Sarfraz (25) was the top-scorer for Islamabad. Sadaf Hussain also bowled well and picked 3-40. In reply, KRL found it difficult themselves to bat as they ended the day at 123-6. At stumps, Usman Arshad (47) and Gulraiz Sadaf (16) were at the crease. Mohammad Azeem claimed 3-37.

Other matches:

SNGPL vs FATA (SNGPL 1st innings 322-5); HBL vs Peshawar (HBL 1st Innings 228 all out, Peshawar 1st Innings 28-1); Karachi Whites vs SSGC (Karachi Whites 1st innings 329-8); PTV vs Lahore Blues (PTV 1st Innings 261 all out, Lahore Blues 1st Innings 43-2); Multan vs WAPDA (Multan 1st innings 214-5).