Shoaib hits ton for Northern in U19 cricket

RAWALPINDI: An unbeaten 109 from Mohammad Shoaib Khan helped Northern score 377 for five in allotted 83 first innings overs on day two of the four-day National Under-19 Cricket Tournament final here at the KRL Stadium on Sunday.

In reply to Sindh’s first innings score of 461, Northern got off to a brilliant start as openers Hassan and Kamran provided a 146-run stand for the first wicket. Hassan 91 off 124 included 12 fours, while Kamran struck eight fours and three sixes in his innings of 73 from 99 balls.

Shoaib coming to bat at number three top-scored with an unbeaten 109 off 147 balls, which included eight boundaries. Other notable performance with the bat came from Abdul Faseeh who contributed 64 off 66 balls, which included five fours. He knitted a 131-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Shoaib.

For Sindh, Adeel Meo took three for 97, while Abdul Jaleel grabbed two wickets for 86.

Sindh will start their second innings today (Monday) with 84 runs first innings advantage.

Scores in brief: Sindh 461-6, 83 overs (Saim Ayub 108, Ghazi Ghouri 100 not out; Zaman Khan 3-109, Mehran Mumtaz 2-114). Northern 377-5, 83 overs (Mohammad Shoaib Khan 109 not out).