Khalil, Farhat put Punjab on top

Mohammad Khalil scythed through Baluchistan's line-up, taking eight wickets before Imran Farhat's unbeaten century put Punjab on top after two days of play at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Punjab had scored 235 on the first day, and Khalil's strikes kept Baluchistan down to 126 in reply. Farhat then got 103 off 115 balls as Punjab ended the day at 215 for 4, 324 runs ahead. Six of Khalil's scalps were either bowled or lbw decisions. Baluchistan opener Zain Abbas batted through the carnage, finishing on 71 not out, but only two other batsmen got into double figures, while four were out for ducks.

Punjab's openers came out and put together a 92-run partnership. Taufeeq Umar, who had held the innings together on Thursday with an unbeaten century, was out for 42, but Farhat went on to get the big score and put Punjab in a position from where they can push for a win.

Centuries from Faisal Iqbal and Fawad Alam pushed Sind to a strong total, before three strikes from Danish Kaneria left Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province in trouble at the end of the second day at the Lahore City Cricket Association Ground. Sind's batsmen had dominated the first day, and continued to do so on Friday. Iqbal, who was on 97 not out at the start of play, ended up getting 118 and Alam moved from 58 to 108 before falling to Khalid Usman. The misery for Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's bowlers was not over though, as Hasan Raza scored 72 and wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed got to 50 not out.

Sind finally declared at 461 for 6, and then immediately had Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in trouble, opening bowlers Mohammad Sami and Sohail Khan taking a wicket each to reduce them to 19 for 2. Kaneria then worsened their plight, taking 3 for 26, as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa collapsed to 123 for 6.