Lahore, 12 September 2023: Ahmed Safi Abdullah, playing for Faisalabad, has thus far stunned with his performances in the first round of games of the QeAT 2023-2024. After Ahmed produced a gritty half-century in the second innings of the game against Rawalpindi, he got two wickets in the third innings, effectively grabbing ten wickets in the game. Playing at the Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium Rawalpindi, he produced an extraordinary performance with bat and ball alike, rising as the most valuable player for his side thus far in the game.
Faisalabad vs Multan
Faisalabad started the day at 178 for the loss of five wickets with Asif Ali and Ahmed Safi Abdullah at the crease. After Asif lost his wicket early in the day, as the set batter on crease Ahmed took on the mantle to keep the runs flowing. His partnership of 59 runs with Ali Shan helped his side retain their momentum.
Once that partnership was broken, the tail was cleaned up by the Multan bowlers. Faisalabad ended their innings at 269.
Captain Zain Abbas was removed cheaply at the start of Multan’s innings. Imran Rafiq and Sharoon Siraj subsequently steadied the innings batting together for 58 runs. Once this was broken, the Zain-led side suffered a flurry of wickets.
Multan ended the day at 155-5 after 52 overs, leading by 119 runs.
Lahore Blue vs Lahore White:
Lahore Whites stood at 254-7 at the start of day three of the match. All-rounder Aamir Jamal lost his wicket early in the day, after which centurion Saad Nasim was joined by Mohammad Irfan on the crease.
Saad and Irfan displayed an extraordinary batting partnership, expanding for 130 runs. The right hander batter churned out a magnificent double century, batting over two days. The Saad-led team was bowled out after scoring a mammoth 432.
The Imran Butt-led team began the third innings, trailing by 184 runs. The captain and senior batter Usman Salahuddin both lost their wickets early on.
At the end of the day’s play, Lahore Blues stood at 61-2 in 26 overs, with Rizwan Hussain and Umar Siddiq at the crease.
Peshawar vs Karachi Whites
At the start of the day, Peshawar stood at 231 for the loss of five wickets. They lost three wickets early in the day, with Abuzar Tariq, Sajid Khan and Abbas Afridi falling periodically. Peshawar was then bowled out for 301 runs. Medium pacer Ghulam Mudassar bagged a very important three-wicket-haul.
Habibullah, the Karachi opener, lost his wicket cheaply at the start of their second batting innings. Danish Aziz and Ammad Alam could not stay on the crease for long either. Omair bin Yousaf and Asad Shafiq displayed a reliable partnership of 113 runs which brought back stability for the Sarfaraz-led side. However, then Omair was run out. Following which, two more wickets fell.
At stumps, Sarfaraz Ahmed was at the crease alongside Aftab. The scorecard read 249-6.
FATA vs Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi began the day at 129-8. The Umar Waheed-led side scraped to 144 before being bowled out by the opposition.
After losing both their openers for a run each, captain Khushdil Shah built a 63-run partnership with Salman Khan Jnr. Although wickets fell on the other end, Salman stood firm and completed a glorious century. Khushdil declared the innings at 225-6, giving the opposition a target of 400.
Abdul Faseeh andHassan Raza opened the batting for Rawalpindi and were on the crease at the time of stumps, having scored 7 and 9 respectively.
Rawalpindi ended the day at 16-0 after batting for 8 overs.
Scores in brief
Faisalabad vs Multan
1st Innings
Multan: 233 all out in 80.4 overs (Zain Abbas 65; Ahmed Safi Abdullah 8-62, Khurram Shahzad 1-33)
Faisalabad: 269 all out in 80 overs (Asif Ali 69, Ahmed Safi Abdullah 69; Ali Usman 5-66, Zahid Mehmood 2-81)
2nd Innings
Multan: 155-5 in 52 overs (Imran Rafiq 68, Aamer Yamin 34*; Khurram Shahzad 2-26, Ahmed Safi Abdullah 2-47).
Lahore Whites vs Lahore Blues
1st Innings
Lahore Blues: 248 all out in 81.3 overs (Hussain Talat 61, Junaid Ali 51; Ahmed Bashir 4-23, Aamir Jamal 3-65)
Lahore Whites: 432 all out in 124.5 overs (Saad Nasim 221, Ahmed Shehzad 44; Kashif Bhatti 3-105, Ali Shafique 2-62, Waqas Ahmed 2-83, Hunain Shah 2-98).
2nd Innings
Lahore Blues: 61-2 in 26 overs (Umar Siddiq 24*, Rizwan Hussain 21*; Ahmed Bashir 2-24)
Peshawar vs Karachi Whites
1st Innings
Karachi Whites: 332 all out in 103.4 overs (Khurram Manzoor 87, Asad Shafiq 70; Muhammad Ilyas 4-85, Sajid Khan 3-61)
Peshawar: 301 all out in 84.5 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 85, Israr Ullah 59, Abbas Ali 47; Ghulam Mudassar 3-36, Mir Hamza 2-26, Shahnawaz Dahani 2-51, Abrar Ahmed 2-108)
2nd Innings
Karachi Whites: 249-6 in 59 overs (Asad Shafiq 76, Omair Bin Yousuf 70; Abbas Afridi 2-69)
FATA vs Rawalpindi
1st Innings
FATA: 318 all out in 92.1 overs (Muhammad Usman 99, M Sarwar Afridi 76; Bilawal Bhatti 4-89, Mubasir Khan 2-55)
Rawalpindi: 144 all out 46.2 overs (Mubasir Khan 42, Abdul Fasih 41; Sameen Gul 8-51, Irfanullah Shah 2-19)
2nd Innings
FATA: 225-6 (declared) in 73 overs (Salman Khan Jnr 110; Mehran Mumtaz 3-83, Bilawal Bhatti 2-22)
Rawalpindi: 16-0 in 8 overs (Hassan Raza 9*, Abdul Faseeh 7*)
