Report

Sami stars as Karachi Blues dominate Faisalabad

A round-up of the action from the second day of the eighth round of matches in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Division One 2011-12

ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Nov-2011
Mohammad Sami starred with both bat and ball to earn Karachi Blues a big lead against Faisalabad at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Sami hit an unbeaten 61 off 46 deliveries to lift Karachi from 236 for 7 to 338. He was supported by Tanvir Ahmed, who made 41. Sami clubbed seven fours and four sixes before Abdur Rauf ended the Karachi innings. Sami led the way with the ball as well, demolishing the top order with a three-wicket burst. Faisalabad never recovered from 22 for 3 and, despite Zeeshan Butt's 92 and the 26 byes conceded by Karachi, were bowled out for 231, a deficit of 107. Karachi reached 13 without loss by the end of the day.
State Bank of Pakistan took control as Saad Altaf and Mohammad Naved blew away Habib Bank Limited for 144 at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. The duo shared nine wickets between them to earn their side a 60-run lead, with only opener Shan Masood (52) and Khaqan Arsal (40) managing to resist for Habib Bank. But for their sixth-wicket stand of 66, Habib Bank would have struggled even more, having been reduced to 65 for 5. Altaf ended with 5 for 63 while Naved had 4 for 24. State Bank consolidated their position in the second innings with Rameez Raja's aggressive fifty helping them to 77 for 2, an overall lead of 137. Opener Waqar Orakzai remained unbeaten on 7 off 63 deliveries.
Sialkot were in danger of sliding to an innings defeat against Rawalpindi, managing 97 as Mohammad Rameez ran through their line-up at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Rameez picked up five wickets, including the top three, as no Sialkot batsman managed more than 20. He was supported well by the other Rawalpindi bowlers, who gave Sialkot no respite as their innings lasted only 31.5 overs. Babar Naeem's century had earlier taken Rawalpindi just past 400. Last man Sadaf Hussain contributed a quick 20. Rawalpndi enforced the follow-on after Sialkot collapsed but the visitors started much better, reaching 63 without loss at stumps.
Abbottabad were struggling against Islamabad, having lost six wickets for 191 in pursuit of the visitors' 337 at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. All Abbottabad batsmen except opener Fawad Khan got starts but no-one made more than 36 as they lost regular wickets. In contrast, Islamabad stretched their first innings to 337, riding on Zohaib Ahmed's 80 and No. 10 Fakhar Hussain's unbeaten 39. Resuming on 254 for 7, Islamabad added a further 83 runs. Khalid Usman was the most successful bowler for Abbottabad with 3 for 53.
Mohammad Talha ripped through the Pakistan International Airlines line-up with a career-best seven-for, earning National Bank of Pakistan a narrow lead at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. Talha put PIA under pressure right away, striking four times early. Fahad Iqbal and Anop Santosh made fifties to get the innings back on track. PIA were 238 for 8, needing 11 to take the lead, but Talha ended the innings on the same score, finishing with 7 for 77. Umaid Asif had earlier been responsible for taking NBP from 203 for 9 to 248 with an unbeaten 41. NBP ended the day on 14 for 1, losing Khurram Manzoor in the first over.
Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited consolidated their strong position against Water and Power Development Authority at the National Ground in Islamabad, taking a handy lead of 123. Despite the early loss of Imran Nazir for 4, Sharjeel Khan, Yasir Hameed and Haris Sohail chipped in with fifties to take ZTBL comfortably past WAPDA's 197. Imran Khan mopped up the lower order, taking 5 for 61 while Zulfiqar Babar ended with three wickets. WAPDA reached 11 without loss at stumps.