Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pull ahead with Irfanullah Shah's four-wicket haul
In response to KP's 300, Central Punjab ended day two on 212 for 8
ESPNcricinfo staff
02-Jan-2021
Usman Salahuddin hit nine fours • PCB
Central Punjab 212 for 8 (Salauddin 60, Nasim 55, Shah 4-45) trail Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 300 (Ghulam 76, Amin 75, Ali 4-62) by 88 runs
Usman Salahuddin and Saad Nasim struck half-centuries for Central Punjab in their response to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's 300 in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final, but Irfanullah Shah's four-wicket haul helped KP end day two as the happier of the two teams. CP ended the day at 212 for 8, with 88 runs behind KP.
Shah made the early inroads for KP, removing both the CP openers Muhammad Akhlaq (4) and Ali Asif (8) cheaply. Salahuddin then repaired the early damage, adding 64 and 48 with Mohammad Saad and Saad Nasim respectively. While Saad fell for 26, Salahuddin and Nasim went onto make half-centuries. However, Nasim's dismissal for 55 off 109 balls triggered a late slide as CP lost four wickets for a mere 22 runs. Shah played a part in it, claiming the wickets of wicketkeeper-batsman Ali Shan and captain Hasan Ali, who was dismissed off what turned out to be the last ball on the second day. Incidentally, Ali had got KP's Sajid Khan off the last ball on the opening day.
Shah was backed up by Khalid Usman, who came away with 2 for 29 in his 13 overs. Khan and Arshad Iqbal, meanwhile, picked up one wicket each for KP.
Earlier in the day, KP added 15 runs to their overnight 285 for 7 before they were bowled out. From 266 for 4, they fell to 300 all out, with Ali returning the innings' best figures of 4 for 62.