Punjab dominates as runs flow
A round-up of the second day's play of Pentangular Cup matches, April 10, 2007
Cricinfo staff
10-Apr-2007
Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) reached 104 without losing any wicket in reply to a mammoth Punjab total of 533 for 9 declared at the close of second day of their Pentangular Cup game at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex.
Ashar Zaidi was forced to retire hurt on two but Saeed bin Nasir and Azhar Ali ensured a decent start to KRL's reply. Nasir was unbeaten on 58 off 99 balls while Azhar had scored 37 with five fours.
Earlier, Punjab batsmen made use of some wayward KRL bowling by adding another 208 runs to their overnight score of 325. Naveed Latif only managed to add five to his overnight 64 and Mohammad Ayub was dismissed for 40 but Wahab Riaz (68) and Imran Khalid (31*) helped Punjab go past the 500-mark in a ninth wicket stand of 123.
Bilal Asad, who picked up three wickets on the first day, went wicketless on the second while Saeed Ajmal finished with two for 172. Akhtar Ayub, Shahzad Butt, Mohammad Irshad and Ashar Zaidi all took one wicket each.
Sind ended day two of their Pentangular Cup match against North West Frontier Province-Baluchistan 56 runs behind and eight second innings wickets remaining at the National Stadium, Karachi.
Resuming 97 runs in arrears, Sind lost both their openers with only 15 on the board. Agha Sabir was picked up by Nasir Jalil for one while Faisal Athar was caught behind off Shakeel-ur-Rehman for only nine. An unbroken 26-run partnership between Asif Zakir and Shahid Qambrani, however, ensured Sind ended the day without further loss.
The combined NWFP and Baluchistan team started the day 84 for 1 and lost two early wickets, Test discard Yasir Hameed (84) and Shoaib Khan both falling to Uzair-ul-Haq. Some tight bowling from off-spinner Tahir Khan, who had top-scored for Sind in the first innings, and some loose shots by the batsmen ensured the lead didn't go beyond a hundred.
Adnan Raees top-scored with 85 while Faisal Irfan chipped in with a useful, unbeaten 34 as wickets fell at regular interval. Tahir ended with four wickets while Uzair and Farhan Ayub took three wickets apiece. Pakistani international Mohammad Sami went wicketless, giving away 89 runs in his 25 overs.