KARACHI: Middle-order batsmen Imran Rafiq and Hamza Nasser anchored the century to lead Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) against Pakistan Television (PTV) on the third day of the fifth round of the President’s Cup Grade-1 match at the UPL Sports Complex on Friday.
At the close of play on the final day, the defending champions were reeling at 27/3 in the second innings, a slender 7-run lead, with Mohammad Taha and Mohammad Mohsin remaining unbeaten with one and zero respectively.
Mohammad Hamza, who scored a first-innings century and skipper Shamil Hussain swept PTV’s top order for 17 runs, was the standout bowler for KRL on a torrid day.
Earlier, resuming the first innings at 88/4 for PTV’s 414, KRL added 346 runs to post 434 all out in 108.5 overs to take a 20-run lead.
Leading the way for them was the middle-order pair of Imran and Hamza, who put on a sensational 207-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
Hamza scored an unbeaten 175 off 202 balls with the help of 14 fours, while Imran scored 170 off 245 balls with 27 fours and a six.
Ali Usman was PTV’s best bowler with 5 wickets for 117 runs in 37.5 overs. He was supported by experienced all-rounder Amad Butt, who took two wickets, while Muhammad Musa, Faisal Akram and Mohsin claimed a scalp each.
At the National Bank Stadium here, Shesad Gul’s seven-wicket haul helped Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL) follow-on to Ghani Glass.
Earlier in the day, Ghani Glass resumed his first innings from 37/2 for SNGPL’s 452 all out, but could only add 164 more to their overnight score, posting a modest 201 in 60.5 overs.
Middle-order batsman Dayab Tahir top-scored with a cautious 53 off 130 balls, with Saad Nasim and Hammad Bhatt scoring 47 and 33 respectively.
Shehzad led the SNGPL’s bowling charge with impressive bowling figures of 7/51 in his 16.5 overs while Shahnawaz Dahani chipped in with three strikes.
After being forced to follow-on, Gani Glass put in a good performance with the bat at the end of the final day at 125/1, reducing the deficit to 126 runs with nine wickets in hand.
However, the Ghani class started their second innings poorly as Dahani managed just six runs to duck their opener Yahya bin Abdul Rahman in four balls.
Following the early setback, Hammad joined Arham in the middle and the two put on an unbeaten 120-run partnership for the second wicket to begin a stunning comeback.
Arham and Hammad, unbeaten on 81 and 35 respectively, will resume Ghani Glass’ second innings on the final day.
Mohammad Asghar’s four wickets in the second innings kept Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) in check against Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDCL) on the third day of their fifth round President Cup Grade-I match at the KCCA Stadium.
At the end of play on the third day, OGDCL were reeling at 117/6 in the second innings, a modest 69-run lead, with all-rounder Danish Aziz and No. 8 batsman Jawad Ali unbeaten on 18 and 1 respectively.
Earlier, WAPDA, who started the first innings at 203/7 against OGDCL’s 159, were bowled out for 207 in 73.3 overs.
Leading them was Ammar who scored 74 runs off 142 balls with 10 fours and middle order batsman Sharon Siraj scored 31 runs.
Asif Afridi led the OGDCL’s bowling with five wickets. Supporting him adequately, Jawad took four wickets while Mohammad Amir Khan picked up one wicket.
Trailing by 48 runs, OGDCL’s batting unit continued to struggle against WAPDA and lost wickets at regular intervals.
Haroon Arshad remained the top scorer with a cautious 37 off 84 balls, while opener Sameer Saqib contributed with 25.
For the WAPDA side, Asghar took four wickets, Mohammad Jeeshan and Sharoon Siraj took one each.
The remaining fifth round match of President Cup Grade-I between Sahir Associates and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) tilted in the latter’s favor at the end of the third day’s play at the SBP Sports Complex.
At the end of play on day three, Sahir Associates were 44/3 in the second innings and trailing by 16 runs, with middle-order batsman Mohammad Faik unbeaten on 18.
He will resume his second innings on the final day, alongside the yet-to-bat Mohammed Saleem.
For the SBP side, Test pacer Mohammad Abbas took two wickets in the second innings while Rameez took one wicket.
Earlier, Sahir Associates were all out for 240 at 73/1 as the home team resumed their first innings and were all out for 300 in 94 overs to take a 60-run lead.
Left-arm opener Abdullah Fazal top-scored for SBP by anchoring a 158-ball 76, followed by wicketkeeper-batsman Ghazi Ghori’s 74-ball 67.
Apart from them, Muhammad Huraira (32), Rameez (31) and Ali Shan (30) also made significant contributions.
Razaullah was the best bowler for Sahir Associates as he took 5 wickets for 88 runs in his 23 overs. He was supported by Mohammad Bilawal and Mohammad Suleman with two wickets each and Faham-ul-Haq with a scalp.