Moin spearheads PIA recovery

A breezy unbeaten knock of 76 at run-a-ball by former Pakistan captain Moin Khan enabled PIA make a flying start against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) on the first day of the Patron's Trophy Grade-I encounter at LCCA Ground Tuesday.

After being sent into bat by KRL skipper Ali Naqvi, PIA made a grand recovery to end the day on 299 for six thanks to the unbroken seventh wicket partnership of 122 between skipper Moin Khan and Abdur Razzaq (42) in 105 minutes.

Moin was in terrific form and played wonderful strokes to smash 13 fours and one towering six during. He completely overshadowed Razzaq in terms of stroke play and reached 50 with his trademark sweep off his rival captain. Abdur Razzaq, who was more circumspect, slammed five boundaries and faced 96 balls during his 111-minute stay.

Earlier, former Test left-hander Asif Mujtaba also batted with great authority to score 63 in two good partnerships. He helped opener Ghulam (41 off 105 balls, five fours) put on 76 for the third wicket. Then he combined with current Test stalwart Yousuf Youhana in a stand that yielded 71 runs in 76 minutes.

Mujtaba adorned his 137-ball knock with nine hits to the fence and batted for three hours and 20 minutes. Yousuf Youhana, the stylish right-hander, struck eight boundaries in making 47 off 72 deliveries in 91 minutes.

Jaffar Nazir and Ali Naqvi were KRL's most successful bowlers with two wickets each for 61 and 71 runs respectively. Test fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar sent down only 13 overs in four spells but his solitary success on another disappointing day was the scalp of opener Sohail Jaffar in the opening five-over spell.