Balochistan, Northern begin Quaid Trophy with wins

LAHORE: Defending champions Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had a poor start to their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2022-23 campaign as they faced a 134-run defeat against Balochistan at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium.

Set 370 to win, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were bowled out for 235 in just 68.5 overs on what was the fourth and final day of the opening round after fighting 60s from one-drop Sahibzada Farhan (63 off 67) and number four Kamran Ghulam (61 off 109).

Khurram Shahzad finished with seven wickets in the match – returning three for 61 in the last innings of the match.

Balochistan’s Hussain Talat stroked a half-century earlier in the day. The left-handed batter made 55 off 80. His team had started the day on 107 for four and declared on 187 for five.

Northern, the finalists of the last season, thrashed Southern Punjab by 10 wickets at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium.

Northern were set eight to win, which they overhauled in nine balls, to occupy the top spot in the six-team points table with 25 points.

Southern Punjab, following on, began the day trailing by by 117 runs with Imran Rafiq and Usman Salahuddin at the crease. Usman added only 15 more to his overnight score before he was run out on 55. Imran (not out on 34 yesterday) went on to score 90 off 228 balls, hitting 14 fours.

Mehran and Musa Khan finished with three wickets each.

The match between Central Punjab and Sindh ended in a draw.

Tayyab Tahir, resuming from 72, scored a century and was unbeaten on 152 off 252 (18 fours and three sixes) when his captain Mohammad Saad declared the innings on 277 for nine.

Sindh, needing 338 to win, were 132 for four, with Khurram Manzoor scoring 50 off 88, at the close of play.

The second round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy begins on Monday. Balochistan play Central Punjab at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Southern Punjab lock horns at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium and Northern and Sindh face off at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad.

Scores in brief:

Balochistan beat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by 134 runs at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium

Balochistan 473 all out, 123 overs (Azeem Ghumman 78, Kashif Bhatti 71, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai 69, Ali Waqas 59, Haseebullah 53, Khurram Shahzad 47; Arshad Iqbal 4-114, Mohammad Sarwar Afrid 2-55, Ihsanullah 2-104) and 187-5, 52 overs (Hussain Talat 55, Ali Waqas 37, Azeem Ghumman 28; Arshad Iqbal 2-33)

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 291 all out, 85.4 overs (Kamran Ghulam 102, Khalid Usman 43, Rehan Afridi 35; Khurram Shahzad 4-67, Kashif Bhatti 2-43, Akif Javed 2-87) and 235 all out, 68.5 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 63, Kamran Ghulam 61, Rehan Afridi 28; Khurram Shahzad 3-61, Kashif Bhatti 2-43, Akif Javed 2-75)

Match points – Balochistan (23), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (four)

Northern beat Southern Punjab by 10 wickets at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad

Northern 529-5d, 133 overs (Mubasir Khan 170 not out, Abdul Faseeh 151, Umar Amin 89, Sarmad Bhatti 81; Hassan Khan 3-94, Ali Usman 2-143) and 8-0, 1.3 overs

Southern Punjab 269 all out, 86.2 overs (Zain Abbas 120, Salman Ali Agha 36, Hassan Khan 34; Nauman Ali 4-73, Musa Khan 2-51, Mehran Mumtaz 2-63) and 265 all out, 104 overs (Imran Rafiq 90, Usman Salahuddin 55, Umar Siddiq 35, Zain Abbas 32; Musa Khan 3-39, Mehran Mumtaz 3-72, Mubasir Khan 2-55)

Match points – Northern (25), Southern Punjab (three)

Match drawn between Sindh and Central Punjab at Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi

Central Punjab 428 all out, 102.2 overs (Abdullah Shafique 232, Aamer Yamin 70; Mir Hamza 3-72, Asif Mehmood 3-128) and 277-9, 90.4 overs (Tayyab Tahir 152 not out, Abdullah Shafique 61; Asif Mehmood 4-59, Mir Hamza 3-41)

Sindh 368 all out, 85.5 overs (Fawad Alam 127 not out, Sarfaraz Ahmed 78, Saim Ayub 71, Saad Khan 30; Mohammad Ali 4-84, Aamer Yamin 3-80) and 132-4, 44 overs (Khurram Manzoor 50, Omair Bin Yousuf 37)

Match points – Central Punjab (13), Sindh (12)