Zafar, Ehsan rip through Northern

ISLAMABAD: Zafar Gohar (4-36) and Ehsan Adil’s (3-15) brilliant bowling spells bundled out Northern Association for just 114, leaving Central Punjab with the option of forcing the follow-on in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

In response to 433 by Central, Northern found going tough against some accurate spin bowling of Zafar and attacking pace of Ehsan. Both had hey day on the pitch that was gripping the ball. None of the Northern batsmen could face both with ease. Haider Ali (11), Umar Amin (12), Rohail Nazir (6), Hammad Azam (4) played some poor shots to get out. Raza Hasan (20) turned out to be the top scorer. For the second match running Northern faced prospects of follow on.

Earlier, Azhar Ali (155) went on to hit a big hundred as did Kamran Akmal (157) on the opening day. Azhar smashed 13 boundaries in his 262-ball knock. Nauman Ali (4-104) and Musa Khan (3-78) turned out to be pick of the bowlers for Central.

At Bugti Stadium in Quetta, Umar Siddiq and Imran Rafiq put on an unbeaten fourth-wicket stand of 110 runs to lead a fightback for Southern Punjab against Balochistan.

Replying to the home team’s huge first innings score of 500-9 declared in 130.5 overs, Southern Punjab ended the second day on 161-3 in 41 overs. They still trail by 339 runs.

The left-handed batting pair of Umar and Imran pulled their team out of trouble after they were reduced to 51-3 in the 15th over.

Umar, who was unbeaten on 67 and had smashed nine fours and a six, and Imran, 56 not out with the help of 11 fours, batted when the stumps were drawn on the second day’s play.

Scores in brief: At Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad: Central Punjab 433 all out in 107.5 overs (Kamran Akmal 157, Azhar Ali 110 not out, Saad Nasim 31; Nauman Ali 4-104, Musa Khan 3-78). Northern Association 114 all out in 60.3 overs (Raza Hasan 20; Zafar Gohar 4-36, Ehsan Adil 3-15, Bilal Asif 2-13).

At Bugti Stadium, Quetta: Balochistan 500-9 declared in 130.5 overs (Azeem Ghumman 163, Imran Farhat 117, Imran Butt 66, Ahmad Butt 54; Mohammad Irfan Jr 5-131, Bilawal Bhatti 2-109). Southern Punjab 161-3 in 41 overs (Umar Sadiq 67 not out, Imran Rafiq 56 not out, Umar Gul 1-7).

At UBL Complex, Karachi: Sindh 446-9 deck in 148.5 overs against KP (Omair bin Yousaf 174, Fawad Alam 100 not out, Asad Shafique 81, Khurram Manzoor 40; Adil Amin 5-81, Sameen Gul 3-50). KP 97-2 in 31 overs (Adil Amin 63 not out, Sohail Khan 1-22).