LAHORE-Southern Punjab recorded their second win in as many matches with a four-wicket win over Balochistan in a closely fought second round first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture at the National Stadium.
According to information made available here, Southern Punjab were 84 runs away from adding the crucial 16 points – for an outright win – to their tally when they resumed their innings on 70-3 on Tuesday morning. Led by Salman Ali Agha’s valiant 42 not out, they completed the task inside the morning session. Saif Badar and Umar Siddiq built on the repair work they did last evening when Balochistan, led by Yasir Shah, reduced them to 39-3 in pursuit of 154. The pair added 24 runs to their 55-run stand for the fourth wicket as Saif scored 37 and Umar made 22.
Imran Rafiq was dismissed by Taj Wali on eight. Khurram Shahzad and Yasir took the other two wickets. With Balochistan gaining momentum after Southern Punjab lost their fifth and sixth wickets for 11 runs, Salman pushed the bowlers back as he played his strokes freely and hit seven boundaries.
Over the course of his undefeated 53-ball stay, the 26-year-old stitched a remarkable 31-run stand with Zahid Mehmood in which runs came from the former’s bat as the latter returned not out on nought after facing 22 balls. Southern Punjab have now accumulated 50 points from two matches. This win earned them 22 points (16 for outright win, three for batting and three for bowling), while Balochistan added seven (four for batting and three for bowling).
Sindh’s Ashiq Ali recorded his second five-wicket haul of the match and his first-class career as his side’s second round fixture against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ended in a draw at the UBL Sports Complex. The off-spinner took six wickets for 33 runs in 19.4 overs to finish with the match figures of 11 for 127. His scalps in the innings included top-scorer Adil Amin (38), Israrullah (eight), Ashfaq Ahmed (nine), Kamran Ghulam (12), Rehan Afridi (two) and Sajid Khan (0).
SCORES IN BRIEF
AT NATIONAL STADIUM
BALOCHISTAN 372 all out, 104.3 overs (Imran Farhat 116, Imran Butt 92, Taimur Ali 86*; Zahid Mehmood 3-101, M Ilyas 2-60) AND 112-9, 31.3 overs (Imran Butt 32; Zahid Mehmood 4-20, M Abbas 2-24, Dilbar Hussain 2-39) vs SOUTHERN PUNJAB 331 all out, 92.2 overs (Salman Ali Agha 97, Shan Masood 62, Imran Rafiq 56*; Yasir Shah 5-115, Khurram Shehzad 2-55, Taj Wali 2-66) AND 154-6, 44.2 overs (Salman Ali Agha 42*, Saif Badar 37; Yasir Shah 3-55, Taj Wali 2-16).
AT UBL SPORTS COMPLEX
SINDH 361 all out, 127.5 overs (Sarfaraz Ahmed 131*, Fawad Alam 91; Khalid Usman 3-108, Sajid Khan 2-132) AND 234-7, 76 overs (Asad Shafiq 72*; Sajid Khan 3-78, Khalid Usman 2-76) vs KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA 307 all out, 105.4 overs (Israrullah 67, Rehan Afridi 53; Ashiq Ali 5-94, Sohail Khan 3-46) AND 96-7, 45.4 overs (Adil Amin 38; Ashiq Ali 6-33).