HBL tighten noose around Lahore Whites

KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited (HBL) tightened noose around Lahore Whites on the second day of their fourth round four-day Group B outing of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy at the LCCA Ground in Lahore on Tuesday.
After taking 242 runs lead HBL reduced the hosts to 94-4 in their second innings.
Lahore Whites need 149 more runs to avoid an innings defeat. Mohammad Waheed (30*) and Usman Salahuddin (21*) were at the crease. Young pacer Ammad Butt picked 2-28.
In response to Karachi Whites’ first innings total of 89, HBL resumed the day at 184-4 and were bowled out for 331.
Aftab Khan, who was batting on 72, fell for 95 which had 16 fours. Umar Gul hit a 72-ball 61 with ten fours.
Pacer Asif Raza got 5-91. Saif-ur-Rehman grabbed 3-86.
In another Group B outing, here at National Stadium, openers Arsalan Bashir (82) and Jaahid Ali (55) hit fine fifties to put Karachi Whites in a strong position as they reached 255-5 after resuming their first innings at 18-0 in response to Khan Research Laboratories’ (KRL) 296. The openers gave an 87-run start to the hosts with Arsalan hitting 12 fours and a six from 138 balls. Jaahid struck five fours from 144 deliveries.
Haris Khan belted 36 with six fours. Left-hander Saad Ali was at the crease on 41 in which he had hit five fours.
Left-arm spinner Nayyer Abbas (2-53) and paceman Mohammad Abbas (2-44) brought KRL back in the game by taking a few quick wickets.
At Pindi Stadium in Rawalpindi, pacemen Ahmed Jamal (3-19) and Zia-ul-Haq (2-63) put National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) in the driving seat when, after scoring 453, they reduced Rawalpindi to 188-7 in their first innings.
Mansoor Amjad cracked 50 with seven fours and a six. After losing five for 85, Mansoor added 79 for the sixth wicket with Usman Saeed, who was batting on 45 which featured seven fours.
Earlier, NBP resumed their first innings at 341-4 and lost their remaining six wickets after adding 111 runs.
Fawad Alam (93), who was batting on 88, failed to score what would have been his second consecutive century of the season as he was trapped lbw by Saad Altaf. The left-hander hit 12 fours from 142 balls.
Akbar-ur-Rehman (128) fell after adding 16 runs to his overnight score. Akbar hammered 20 fours in his second ton of the season.
Qaiser Abbas (35) and Faheem Ashraf (33) were the other main contributors.
Left-arm medium pacer Saad Altaf picked 4-125. Yasir Arafat and Abid Hussain claimed three wickets each.
Despite a defiant 122 from Khushdil Shah, FATA were struggling at 217-8 in response to WAPDA’s first innings total of 440 at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot.
Khushdil hammered 15 fours and two sixes in his superb 153-ball effort.
Waqas Maqsood and Zulfiqar Babar picked three wickets each.
Earlier, the pair of Aamer Sajjad (178) and Zulfiqar Babar (89) scored 119 for the eighth wicket, helping WAPDA to add 90 vital runs to their overnight total of 350-7.
Aamer, who was batting on 161, smashed 23 fours and a six. Babar, who was not out on 39, hammered 11 fours and three sixes in his fiery 66-ball knock.
Young pacer Mohammad Irfan got 4-129. Rahim Baz and Ibrahim Gul captured two wickets each.
At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Adnan Akmal (148) hit the fifth century of his caeer to enable Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to pile up 445 in their first innings after resuming at 345-7.
Adnan, who was batting on 98 on Monday, hammered 21 fours from 182 balls. He shared 125 for the eighth wicket with Bilawal Bhatti, who made 72 with ten fours and a six.
Off-spinner Agha Salman (4-60) and medium pacer Aftab Azwar (3-116) bowled well.
In reply, Saad Nasim (104) added 141 for the fifth wicket with Fahad-ul-Haq (75*) to lift Lahore Blues from 42-4 to 243-5.
Saad clobbered 13 fours and three sixes from 90 balls. Fahad smacked five fours in his 123-ball unfinished effort.
International pacers Samiullah Niazi and Asad Ali captured two wickets each.
At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad, United Bank Limited (UBL) were reeling at 79-4 in their second innings after gaining 62 runs lead.
Skipper Shan Masood (33) and Umair Khan (26) offered some resistance.
Sajjad Hussain captured 3-20.
In response to UBL’s first innings score of 259, Hyderabad perished for 197. Zeeshan Gul scored 63 with eight fours. Shoaib Leghari (39) and Mir Ali (30) were the other distinguished scorers. Left-arm pacer Mir Hamza picked 5-42.
At Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad, Umar Amin (161) and Asif Zakir (115) put on 264 for the fourth wicket to enable Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to post 375 in their first innings after starting at 271-3 against Islamabad.
Amin struck 21 fours, while Asif hammered 18 boundaries. Hasan Ali claimed 5-65.
Islamabad, in response, were 98-2.
At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar, Zohaib Khan (138*) and Wasif Nawaz (94) enabled Peshawar to secure a huge lead when they reached 453-4 at stumps in reply to Port Qasim Authority’s (PQA) 107.
Azam Hussain claimed 3-109.