Munir grabs five wickets on debut to put Northern in charge

KARACHI: Rookie medium pacer Munir Riaz on Friday had a dream start to his first-class career when he claimed 5-91 in 16 overs to put Northern in a strong position against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the second day of their fifth round four-day outing of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (first-class) here at National Stadium on Friday.

The 19-year-old, who was part of Pakistan team in the 2018 ICC Under-19 World Cup, did a remarkable job with the leather to reduce KP to 249-7 in their first innings in response to Northern’s massive first innings total of 460-9 declared.

Kamran Ghulam struck another fifty, scoring 67 off 110 balls. The Dir-born allrounder hit nine fours. At stumps, Khalid Usman was batting on 59 and with him at the other end was Mohammad Waseem on 20.

Khalid had struck ten fours and one six from 82 balls. Waseem had smacked three sixes and one four from 15 deliveries.

Earlier, Northern resumed their first innings at 371-5 and declared it after reaching 460-9.

Faizan Riaz, who was batting on 124 on the first day, fell for 146. He hit 18 fours and one six in his 189-ball knock.

Discarded international Asif Ali hammered a quick-fire 45-ball 52 not out, hammering four fours and two huge sixes.

Spinner Zohaib Khan (3-46) and pacer Arshad Iqbal (3-75) were the successful bowlers.

“It was my first match and I performed well,” Muneer Riaz told a virtual news conference after his dream debut. “InshaAllah I will try to continue it,” he added.

At SBP Ground here, Balochistan declared their first innings at 458-9 against Sindh. Resuming at their overnight total of 333-3, Balochistan went on to score 458-9 declared. Akbar-ur-Rehman, who was batting on 155, fell for 164. The Karachi-born right-handed batsman struck 13 fours and four sixes in his fantastic 206-ball feat.

Ayaz Tasawar then took the centre stage and smashed spectacular 138 not out, his career-best. Ayaz struck 13 fours and two sixes in his 244-ball knock, his third first-class century. Medium pacer Hasan Mohsin was the pick of the bowlers with 4-79 in 21 overs. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed got 2-123 in 56.5 overs.

Sindh, in response, were 175-1 at stumps. Omair-bin-Yousuf (74*) and Saud Shakeel (67*) shared 131 runs for the second wicket unbeaten stand.

Omair, who has been prolific so far in the season, had smashed seven fours and two sixes from 166 deliveries. Saud, a left-handed batsman, had clobbered eight fours in his 82-ball unbeaten knock.

Earlier, Sharjeel Khan (26) was bowled by Mohammad Talha. The left-handed batsman struck five fours from 36 balls. Talha got 1-33 in eight overs.

At UBL Sports Complex here, Southern Punjab declared their first innings at 527-7 in 134 overs against Central Punjab. Salman Ali Agha, who was not out on 62 on the first day, went on to score 169, his career-best. Salman smashed 21 fours and three sixes in his 183-ball knock, his seventh first-class hundred.

He added 187 runs for the sixth wicket association with Mohammad Imran, who hammered 100 not out, his maiden first-class hundred. Imran, who hit 11 fours from 143 balls, then shared 54 for the seventh wicket stand with Bilawal Bhatti, who scored 32 off 37 balls, striking eight fours.

Pakistan’s experienced fast bowler Hasan Ali got 2-79 in 20 overs.

In response, Central Punjab were 136-2 in 41 overs, having lost openers Ali Zaryab (67) and Ahmad Shehzad (33). Ali struck eight fours and one six from 111 balls, while Shehzad hammered five fours from 81 deliveries.

Usman Salahuddin was batting on 18 and with him at the other end was Mohammad Saad on nine. Bilawal Bhatti and leggie Zahid Mahmood got one wicket each.