Arafat and Azam keep NWFP in check

North-West Frontier Province 230 for 9 (Hameed 76, Arafat 4-85, Azam 3-70) trail Federal Areas 236 (Usman Saeed 73, Shakeel 6-72) by six runs
Scorecard

Yasir Arafat and Shehzad Azam matched Shakeel-ur-Rehman's day-one bowling effort for North-West Frontier Province and gave Federal Areas a chance to get back in the game despite a poor first-innings total. The two medium-pacers shared seven wickets as the hosts ended the second day trailing Federal Areas by six runs with only one wicket in hand.

It took NWFP less than four overs to wrap up Federal Areas' innings as the tail-enders added only eight runs to their overnight score of 228. Shakeel added another scalp to his five-for from day one when he had Azam caught for 6. But NWFP's start was as bad as Federal Areas' had been, as they lost their first three wickets for 21 with Yasir Arafat taking two in two balls. Yasir Hameed tried to resuscitate the innings with a 90-run stand with Aftab Alam but Azam broke their partnership by dismissing Alam for 39. He also removed Hameed, whose 120-ball 76 included 15 fours. At stumps Zulfiqar Jan (36) was batting with No. 10 Junaid Khan (5).

Sind 43 for 1 trail Punjab 400 for 9 dec (Azhar Ali 135, Hafeez 78, Umar Akmal 52, Azam Hussain 3-100) by 357 runs
Scorecard

Punjab didn't quite convert the start their openers had given them yesterday but they still managed 400 before declaring and gave their bowlers 20 overs to have a go at Sind on day two in Lahore. Umar Akmal, who added 124 with Azhar Ali, fell shortly after reaching his half-century while Azhar added 26 more to get to 135 before becoming Tanvir Ahmed's only wicket in the innings. Khurram Shehzad's 41 was the only other notable score of the innings. Though the total is substantial, Punjab may have set their sights on 500 considering they ended day one on 245 for 1. Sind lost opener Asif Zakir for 18 after which Khurram Manzoor and Faisal Athar played cautiously to reach 43 for 1 at stumps.