Latif century inspires NBP
A round-up of day two of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy first-round replay match between National Bank of Pakistan and Sialkot
26-Dec-2007
National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) took a positive step towards qualifying for the final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy by restricting Sialkot to 163 for 6 after scoring 344 in their first innings at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
Resuming at their overnight 256 for 6, NBP rode on an even 100 by Naved Latif to post a decent first-innings score. Latif, who has represented Pakistan in a Test match, scored his 14th first-class hundred and hit 15 fours and two sixes in his 159-ball knock.
He added 107 runs for the seventh wicket with Mansoor Amjad (32), NBP's captain, while Imran Javed added an unbeaten 26 off 56 balls with three fours to boost the team's total. Mohammad Ali, Sialkot's fast bowler, finished with four wickets.
In reply, Sialkot made a decent start and had reached 87 for 1 before a mini-collapse saw them lose two wickets for only three runs. Kamran Younis scored 43 with six fours and a six and added 48 with Haris Sohail for the second wicket. Following a brief revival by Sialkot, Uzair-ul-Haq, NBP's fast bowler, grabbed three quick wickets to have Sialkot reeling at 155 for 6. Sohail remained unbeaten on 56 at stumps. NBP will look to close down the Sialkot innings on the third morning. Sialkot, 181 runs behind NBP, still require another 32 to avoid the follow-on.