Round three of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Four-Day Cricket begins

ISLAMABAD – Rawalpindi posted 239 for the loss of four wickets on the opening day of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Four-Day 2018-19 round three Pool B match played here at Pindi Stadium on Sunday.

PTV skipper Saud Shakeel won the toss and opted to field on a perfect batting track. His decision paid off in the beginning, as Rawalpindi lost two quick wickets, but Saud never put pressure and made a huge blunder by replacing wicket-taking bowler Tabish Khan, which gave Rawalpindi chance to consolidate.

Haseeb Azam and Tayyab Riaz punished PTV bowlers, as butter-finger fielders were unable to hold onto simple catches. Youngster Ali Imran had to suffer the most, as three simple catches of his bowling were put down. Haseeb hammered 75 while third wicket-stand of more than 100 was finally broken, when Ali Imran took his maiden wicket in Quaid Trophy, as Tayyab was caught behind after scoring 68 and Haseeb, after playing superbly, also followed him. Tabish Khan bagged 3-68 and Ali Imran 1-36.

At Multan Stadium, SSGCL finished day one at 75-2 against Multan Region. Awais Zia was unbeaten at the crease after scoring 33. Earlier, Multan were bundled out for 143. Imran Rafiq made 44, Kashif Bhatti took 5 for 33 and Sohail Khan 3 for 32, Umpires: Adnan Rashid & Zameer Haider, Referee: Muhammad Javed, Scorer: Muhammad Akbar.

At National Stadium, Karachi Whites made 27 without loss against ZTBL, who were bowled out for 207 in their first innings. Usman Ashraf made unbeaten 86 and Anus Mustafa 56. , Adeel Malik captured 4-38, Israr Ahmed Khan 2-27 and Anwar Ali 2-45. At LCCA Ground, Lahore, Wapda scored 215-5 against Lahore Blues. Skipper Salman Butt slammed 129 and M Saad 37. Asad Ullah got 2-27 and Zafar Gohar 2-67.

In Pool-A match played at Diamond Ground, Islamabad, SNGPL were in commanding position against sorry Islamabad, as they finished day one at 196-3, already had 88 runs lead with 7 wickets in hand. M Hafeez hit 63. Earlier, Islamabad were once again failed to impress and could score 108-9 as Zohaib Ahmed got injured while M Nadeem made 36. Aziz Ullah bagged 4-36 and Rahat Ali 3-37.

At Abbottabad Stadium, KRL made 43 without loss against Fata on day one. Earlier, Fata were bowled out for 253 with Asad Afridi scoring 97 and Asif Afridi 37. Ali Shafiq grabbed 8-70. At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, HBL hammered 325-5 against Lahore Whites. Abid Ali slammed 131 and Rameez Aziz unbeaten 53. M Waheed got 2-66.

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, Peshawar made 125-9 against NBP, thus took 19 runs lead with one wicket in hand. Ashfaq Ahmed made 35. Attaullah clinched 5-29 and Mir Hamza 3-29. Earlier, NBP, batting first, were bundled out for 106. Rameez Raja made 29. Altaf Ahmed captured 3-20, Nasir Ahmed 3-24 and Taj Wali 3-45.