Quaid-e-Azam Trophy: Bowlers make hay as 13 wickets fall on day 3

KARACHI: Bowlers dominated day three of the ninth round four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture between Balochistan and Northern at the UBL Stadium as Balochistan were 189-8 in their second innings, says a press release.

Thirteen wickets fell on Wednesday as Northern, continuing their first innings, were skittled out for 342 after adding only 45 runs to their overnight score before Nauman Ali and Waqas Ahmed shared Balochistan’s seven out of eight wickets.

In the first session of the day, Balochistan’s paceman Taj Wali ripped through the Northern’s batting line-up to claim his 15th five-wicket haul in first class cricket.

The left-arm medium-fast took three more wickets on day three to return with a figure of 6-89 in 20.2 overs.

Sarmad Bhatti and Jamal Anwar added three and 32 runs, respectively, to their overnight scores.

Sarmad made 86 off 176 while Jamal cracked 11 fours in his 93 from 120 balls. With a deficit of 42 runs, Balochistan’s openers failed to provide the desired beginning as both openers Imran Butt (28) and Azeem Ghumman (eight) were back in the dressing room by Lunch.

Akbarur Rehman and skipper Imran Farhat consolidated the innings to escort Balochistan to 113 at tea.

The pair stitched an 84-run partnership for the third wicket with Akbar scoring a 114-ball 41 and Imran recording his 70th first-class half-century with a 114-ball 55.

In the final session of the day, Northern’s bowlers came into the act, snapping up quick wickets to squeeze Balochistan.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Bismillah Khan put up resistance with 32 not out from 41 balls.

Balochistan are 147 runs ahead and will be relying on Bismillah — who is joined by Mohammad Asghar (three) — to help them post a decent target.

Scores in brief: At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Balochistan 300 all out in 90.2 overs (Imran Butt 124, Umar Gul 51, Imran Farhat 32; Sadaf Hussain 4-75, Nauman Ali 3-80) and 189-8 in 65 overs (Imran Farhat 55, Akbarur Rehman 41, Bismillah Khan 32 not out; Nauman Ali 4-62, Waqas Ahmed 3-54). Northern 342 all out in 86.2 overs (Jamal Anwar 93, Sarmad Bhatti 86, Umar Amin 69; Taj Wali 6-89, Umar Gul 2-61).

At NBP Stadium, Kara­chi: Khyber Pakh­tun­khwa 355 all out in 123.3 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 96, Khalid Usman 72 not out, Mohammad Mohsin 56, Israrullah 51, Ashfaq Ahmed 29; Zafar Gohar 4-143, Bilal Asif 3-98, Usman Qadir 2-60) and 197-7 declared in 54 overs (Israrullah 40, Sahibzada Farhan 36, Zohaib Khan 31 not out, Khalid Usman 21 not out, Fakhar Zaman 21; Zafar Gohar 4-82). Central Punjab 228 all out in 84.1 overs (Mohammad Saad 49, Kamran Akmal 39, Umar Akmal 34, Usman Qadir 32 not out; Khalid Usman 4-67, Sajid Khan 3-55, Mohammad Mohsin 2-57) and 13-4 in 4.2 overs (Rizwan Hussain 6; Usman Shinwari 3-2, Sajid Khan 1-7).

At National Stadium, Karachi: Southern Punjab 517-9 declared in 133.3 overs (Zeeshan Ashraf 133, Adnan Akmal 107 not out, Sohaib Maqsood 81; Anwar Ali 5-75, Hassan Khan 2-110). Sindh 486 all out in 132 overs (Fawad Alam 211, Sarfaraz Ahmed 131, Saad Ali 60; Ziaul Haq 3-105, Muhammad Irfan 2-129).