Karachi: Sadaf Hussain picked up three wickets to lay down a solid foundation for Northern to restrict Southern Punjab (SP) to 285-10 on the opening day of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy’s sixth round.
Nauman Ali and Munir Riaz bagged two wickets each to further dent the table-toppers.
While batting first, SP were off to a shaky start after losing their first wicket at just 4 runs. Sadaf bagged Zain Malik to provide an early breakthrough to his team.
Zeeshan Ashraf and Umar Sidique carried the inning through a rough patch and add 41 runs together but Zeeshan couldn’t continue for long and fell to Hammad Azam after scoring 25 runs off 47 balls.
Umar and Saif Badar stood out firm after joining hands together for 46-3. They both scored 143 runs together to help SP come out of trouble. Umar made 89 runs off 203 balls with the help of nine boundaries while Saif scored 81 laced with 16 boundaries and two sixes.
In the end, Salman Ali Agha contributed 53 runs to somehow strengthen SP’s first inning’s total.
Northern closed Day 1 at 6-0 with their openers Sarmad Bhatti (6*) and Nasir Nawaz (0*).
On the other hand, Kamran Ghulam rescued Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) against Balochistan at State Bank Stadium. Kamran remained not out for 130 off 227 balls as KPK closed Day 1 at 292-9. Kamran’s prominent knock includes 14 boundaries and two sixes.
Rehan Afridi’s knock was another highlight of this inning as he scored 58 off 91 balls laced with seven boundaries. Kamran will resume KPK’s first inning tomorrow with Israrullah Shah (0*).
Khurram Shehzad and Umaid Asif played an important role for Balochistan with the bowl as they bagged three wickets each. Taj Wali took two wickets.
At National Stadium, Usman Salahuddin (80) and Ali Zaryab (56) raced Central Punjab (CP)’s score to 232-5. Mohammad Saad and Saad Naseem scored 41 and 44 respectively as CP scored 232-5 against Sindh on Day 1.
Tabish Khan bagged two wickets for Sindh.
