Hafeez puts Faisalabad in control

Faisalabad, the table leaders, got off to a grand start, compiling 354 for 5 on the opening day of their second-round Pentangular Cup match against Sialkot at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Mohammad Hafeez posted his seventh first-class hundred, after Faisalabad had been put in to bat. He faced 161 balls for his 113 runs, that required just over four hours to make and included 19 boundaries. Hafeez added 105 for his second-wicket partnership with Asif Hussain, who scored 52 off only 68 balls with eight fours and a six. Hafeez was then joined by Mohammad Zahid in a third-wicket stand that produced 101.

Zahid hit 43 off 70 balls with eight fours and a six, after which Faisalabad suffered a mini slump, to go down to 256 for 6 from 225 for 2. Misbah-ul-Haq, their captain, then took them to stumps without any further mishap. The unbroken sixth-wicket stand was worth 98 unbeaten runs. Misbah (71 not out) used up 122 deliveries with nine fours while wicket-keeper Mohammad Salman's unbeaten 37 was studded with six hits to the fence.

Faisalabad defeated Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in a first-round match, by nine wickets inside three days. Sialkot were beaten by this season's Patron's Trophy champions National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) by a 41-runs margin.

Twenty wickets fell in a scintillating day of cricket, as the second-round Pentangular Cup match between PIA and Karachi Harbour began here at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

After being asked to bat first, a rather weak Karachi Harbour side was bowled out for a poor score of 95. PIA didn't fare much better either, scraping together a first innings total of 172 after having crashed to 51 for 7 at one stage. A 77-run advantage could prove to be decisive in the final analysis. Karachi Harbour had clipped five runs off this lead by the close of play on the opening day, without any loss in their second innings.

Fazl-e-Akbar and Najaf Shah, PIA's opening bowlers, claimed three wickets each as the Karachi's batting capitulated. But Mohammad Hasnain and Faraz Ahmed Khan repaid the compliment as they captured five wickets each. PIA were saved by a 96-run stand for the eighth wicket that proved to be a great morale booster. Instead of being sent to open the batting, the left-handed Agha Sabir walked in at No.7 and he made a contribution of 66, off just 87 balls, with the help of 12 fours and a six.

Assisting him in his endeavour was PIA's newest recruit, 17-year-old wicket-keeper Abdul Rauf of Faisalabad. Rauf scored 32 off 59 deliveries, with three hits to the ropes. Hasnain, the Karachi fast-medium bowler, took 5 for 51 in 14 overs. The 21-year-old Faraz, playing in only his third first-class match, picked up his first five-wicket haul, taking 5 for 48 from only 9.1 overs.

In their first-round match at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore last week, PIA - three-time winners of previous Pentangular trophy competitions - had crashed to a nine-wicket defeat at the hands of Faisalabad inside three days. Their first-innings total was a pathetic 69 runs. This game appears to be heading the same way.