Rawalpindi complete innings victory

Centuries from Shoaib Nasir, Naved Malik and Zahir Mansoor helped Rawalpindi beat Bahawalpur by an innings and 130 runs. Rawalpindi batted first, with openers Nasir (112) and Naved (127) putting on 228 for the first wicket. Contributions flowed from the rest of the order thereafter, with Zahid finishing unbeaten on 103 as Rawalpindi declared on 536 for 7.

Facing an immense challenge, Bahawalpur were in dire straits as both openers went with just 3 on the board. Despite contributions from some of the middle order batsmen, Bahawalpur folded to 151, with Haseeb Azam and Akhtar Ayub taking four wickets each. Still 385 runs behind, it was imperative the openers gave Bahawalpur a good start, but that failed to come to fruition as they were both dismissed with just 17 on the board. Adeel Basit's 114 was the stand out innings, and despite contributions from Faisal Mubashir (42) and Rehan Rafiq (39), the team were unable to reach the necessary target as they were dismissed for 255, giving Rawalpindi the innings victory.

Karachi Whites started their campaign on the right food with an innings and 20-run victory over Lahore Shalimar. Karachi Whites began strongly with Asif Zakir (114) and Fazal Subhan (155) putting on a 283-run opening stand. However, once the stand ended, wickets began to fall regularly, with eight wickets falling in the space of 83 runs. Shahzaib Ahmed added 61 to help prop Karachi Whites to 430. Waqar Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 104.

After being reduced to 12 for 2, Waqas Saleem and Umar Siddiq put on a 115-run stand to help steady Lahore Shalimar's innings. Junaid Ali (49), Waqar (33) and Mustafa Iqbal (27) helped Lahore Shalimar to 270, but it was not enough to prevent the follow-on, with Karachi Whites promptly sending Lahore Shalimar back in. Their second effort went pear-shaped as Babar Rehman and Faheem Ahmed left Lahore Shalimar's batsmen in disarray. Only four batsmen got into double figures as Lahore Shalimar folded to 140, giving Karachi Whites an innings and 20 runs victory.

The opening Quaid-e-Azam trophy match between Hyderabad and Quetta played out to a tame draw in Hyderabad. After being put into bat, Hyderabad looked in trouble at 62 for 4 before Faisal Athar and Zafar Ali put on 164 for the fourth wicket to help steady the innings. Zafar fell on 60, and innings from Shoaib Laghari (61) and Mir Ali (75), helped Hyderabad to 435. Athar top-scored with 143, while Shahzad Tareen took best bowling figures of 5 for 111.

Quetta started strongly, with the openers putting on 47, but seemed to lose wickets at regular intervals as, apart from Taimur Khan's 110, the rest of the batsmen failed to put on meaningful scores. Nasir Awais was the pick of the bowlers for Hyderabad with 5 for 98. Hyderabad's innings started grimly after they were reduced to 31 for 3, but Mohammad Shehbaz's unbeaten 54, along with Athar's 44, helped rescue the team from a sorry state. Hyderabad reached 156 for 5 as the match petered out to a draw.

Abottabad and Karachi Blues drew their first match of the tournament in Karachi. Abottabad batted first, losing opener Waqar Orakzai off the first ball of the innings. After being reduced to 22 for 3, Mohammad Naeem (75) and Khalilullah (53) salvaged the position somewhat, before Rehan Afridi's inbeaten 139 helped prop Abbottabad's innings to 367. In reply, Karachi Blues put on a fine show, with Ashraf Ali narrowly missing a century with 96, and Faraz Ahmed supporting him with 86. Karachi Blues were dismissed for 343, with Aziz-ur-Rehman taking 3 for 84.

Centuries from Mohammad Naeem and Afridi ensured Abottabad put up a stiff target to chase. Both Waqar Anwar and Faraz Ahmed took four wickets, but were unable to prevent Abbottabad from putting up 343. With 368 to chase, and not much time left in the match, openers Behram Khan and Rajesh Ramesh held around for three overs to finish 24 for 0.

Sialkot completed an innings and 52-run victory over Lahore Ravi to get their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy campaign off on the right foot. After being put into bat, Sialkot imposed themselves with a 73-run stand for the opening wicket. Their batting line-up all contributed with Faisal Khan, Naved Sarwar and Mansoor Amjad posting fifties to help Sialkot score 382. Adnan Danish and Aleem Yousuf were the pick of the bowlers, picking up 4 for 103 and 3 for 98 respectively.

Lahore Ravi were simply unable to post significant partnerships, with wickets falling at regular intervals. The opening bowlers for Sialkot, Adnan Ghaus and Hasan Ali, combined for seven wickets as Lahore Ravi were skittled out for 110. As they didn't meet the follow-on target, Lahore Ravi were invited to bat for a second time, and while they did pass 200, they still didn't reach the necessary target of 282 and fell short by 52 runs. Only Zeeshan Ali and Danish hit fifties, while Nabeel Malik's 4 for 98, and Amjad's 3 for 30 were the best bowling performances of the innings.