Sindh strongly placed against Central Punjab

LAHORE: Pacer Tabish Khan took a five-wicket haul while Khurram Manzoor and Jahid Ali scored half centuries to give Sindh the upper hand against leaders Central Punjab on day two of the four-day eight round Quaid-i-Azam Trophy first-class match being played at the National Stadium in Karachi on Tuesday.

Sindh enjoyed a slender nine runs lead on the first innings after they ended the day on 255 for four with Fawad Alam (42) and Sarfraz Ahmed (39) having put on 65 for the unbeaten fifth wicket partnership.

Earlier Tabish took five wickets for 85 to help bowl out Central Punjab for 246 in the morning session. It was Tabish’s 37th five wicket haul in a first-class career of 126 matches and 565 wickets. Punjab had resumed on 216 for seven with Usman Salahuddin on exactly 50 but at the total of 234, Tabish trapped him leg before for 57 from 155 balls, Sohail Khan then dismissed the other overnight batsman, Ehsan Adil for 23 runs. Tabish also picked up the wicket of Waqas Maqsood to end the visitors innings.

Scores in brief: Central Punjab 246 all out 94.3 overs (Kamran Akmal 59, Usman Salahuddin 57, Ahmed Shehzad 48; Tabish Khan 5-85, Anwar Ali 2-27, Sohail Khan 2-51)Sindh 255 for 4 in 72.3 overs (Khurram Manzoor 85, Jahid Ali 72, Fawad Alam 42*; Bilal Asif 3-64).