Quaid-i-Azam Trophy: Shoaib, Zahid rescue PIA

Karachi, Nov 6: An unbroken partnership of 129 between ex-Test stars Shoaib Mohammad and Zahid Fazal helped PIA recover from a top-order collapse on the first day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship Pool A' match against WAPDA at the UBL Sports Complex here on Saturday.

The pair came together after PIA lost three wickets in six deliveries immediately after lunch. But opener Shoaib (94 off 245 balls in 330 minutes with six fours) and Zahid Fazal (75 off 155 balls with 12 fours) justified skipper Asif Mujtaba's decision to bat first on an excellent pitch by remaining unseparated for 206 minutes when stumps were drawn for the day.

PIA, in fact, made a solid start through former Test openers Rizwan-uz-Zaman and Shoaib to reach lunch on 77 for no loss.

However, WAPDA hit back to claim the scalps of Rizwan and left-hander Kashif Siddique, who played a reckless stroke through off-spinner Farhan Rasheed.

Mujtaba was run out without facing a ball when Sarfraz Ahmed, fielding at deep mid-on, effected a direct hit at the bowler's end with the left-hander a centimetre away from the crease.