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Aamer Hayat leads wicket-fest in Lahore

Round-up of the first day of the fifth round of Division Two of the Quaid-E-Azam Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff
22-Nov-2010
Seventeen wickets fell on the first day of the match between Lahore Ravi and Lahore Shalimar, leaving the match at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground evenly poised at stumps. The wicket-fest started with Lahore Shalimar's opening bowlers Aamer Hayat and Emmad Ali, who shared all ten wickets between them as they bowled Lahore Ravi out for 107. Fast bowler Hayat took his fifth five-wicket haul in just his 16th first-class match, finishing with 6 for 34. The Lahore Shalimar batsmen then squandered the advantage Hayat and Ali had given them, capitulating to 96 for 7 by the end of the day. Usman Salahuddin, who is at the top of the run charts in Division Two this season, was out for a duck as seamers Abdul Ghaffar and Asif Raza brought Lahore Ravi back into the match. The match is hurtling towards an early result, which would separate the two teams who are currently locked in third position on 18 points.
Khan Research Laboratories fast bowlers Mohammad Irfan and Jaffar Nazir bowled out Abbottabad for 123 to give the visitors the advantage on the first day at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Abbottabad came into the match in second position in the Division Two table with 15 points more than fifth-placed KRL, but by the end of the day it was the lower-placed side that looked favourites in the match. Irfan, who is close to seven-foot tall, had a less than glorious introduction to international cricket in September, when the two ODIs he played for Pakistan in England saw him go for more than six runs an over, walk off injured on his debut and end up being publicly criticised by his captain Shahid Afridi for dropping a catch. He hasn't had the best domestic season this year either, but showed some of the qualities that earned him a national cap, on Monday, taking 5 for 45.
Irfan started Abbottabad's collapse by bowling opener Ghulam Mohammad and then trapping Abbottabad captain Wajid Ali in front of his stumps. From the other end, Jaffar dismissed Abbottabad's leading run-getter this season, opener Waqar Orakzai, among a haul of 4 for 40. Orakzai's 40 was Abbottabad's top score in an innings that lasted less than 46 overs. Abbottabad picked up two wickets before the close of play but with KRL on 52 for 2 are still in a poor position in the match.
Half-centuries by middle-order batsmen Wajihuddin and Abdul Jabbar resurrected Karachi Whites after they were put in to bat by Hyderabad at the United Bank Limited Sports Complex in Karachi. Karachi Whites finished at 251 for 4 but were struggling at 109 for 4 at one stage after offspinner Hanif-ur-Rehman had given Hyderabad two early wickets. Karachi Whites captain Shahzaib Hasan got a half-century, as well, but it was the 142-run stand between Wajihuddin, who is his team's leading run-getter this season, and Jabbar that built a solid base on which Karachi Whites can build tomorrow. Hyderabad are third from the bottom in the Division Two table while Karachi Whites' loss to State Bank of Pakistan in their last match has taken them down to sixth in the table.
Opener Imran Ali's century put Pakistan Television on top against Peshawar at the Arbab Niaz Stadium. Imran and Ammar Mahmood, who made 96, put together 181 runs for the second wicket after the hosts had put Pakistan Television in to bat, leading their team to a total of 254 for 4 at the close of play on the first day. Riaz Afridi, who is the leading wicket-taker in Division Two this season, picked up an early wicket and then two more late in the day to give Peshawar some respite. But, Peshawar, who are languishing at second from bottom in the table, will have their work cut out for them tomorrow as they try to restrict Pakistan Television to an attainable first innings score.
It was top versus bottom, as State Bank of Pakistan, who have won three of their four matches this season, took on Quetta, who have no points so far, at the Khan Research Laboratory Ground in Rawalpindi. The mismatch was evident in the first two sessions as SBP bowled Quetta out for 123, but the bottom side fought back in the latter half of the day, reducing SBP to 74 for 4 at stumps. Quetta seamer Arun Lal picked up two early wickets to startle SBP, who were in control of the match before they came out to bat. SBP fast bowler Mohammad Naved bagged his first five-wicket haul of the season, while offspinner Adnan Rasool took 3 for 23.