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Karachi, 5 November 2019: Central Punjab spinners Zafar Gohar and Bilal Asif shared seven wickets between them to help their team gain a vital 35-run first innings lead over Northern on day-two of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy four-day first-class match at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad on Tuesday.
Resuming at the overnight score of 47 for one, Northern were reduced to 134 for six in their first innings till the lunch break.
Central Punjab spinners Bilal and Zafar made good use of the Iqbal Stadium pitch to make regular breakthroughs. Hammad Azam (52 off 101 balls, two fours, two sixes) was the only batsman to offer some sustained resistance against the host bowling attack.
Umar Amin scored 42 off 85 balls with the help of six fours; wicketkeeper Jamal Anwar contributed 36 runs off 106 balls.
Northern were bowled out before tea for 191 runs in their first innings, conceding a 35-run lead. By dismissing the opposition inside 110 overs, Central Punjab collected full three bowling points on offer just like Northern had done on the first-day.
Left-arm-spinner Zafar finished with four wickets for 54 runs in 25.1 overs, while off-spinner Bilal took three for 57. Pacer Aizaz Cheema took two wickets.
By close of play, Central Punjab reached 137 for the loss of two wickets in their second innings to take their overall lead to 172 runs with two days play left in the game.
Opener Rizwan Hussain was batting on 69 and Umar Akmal was unbeaten on 53 when stumps were drawn for the day, the two have so far added 99 runs for the unfinished third wicket stand, giving their team control of the match.
Scores in brief:
Central Punjab 226 all out, 69.1 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 55, Umar Akmal 52, Salman Butt 41; Nauman Ali 8-71) and 137 for 2, 26.1 overs (Rizwan Hussain 69 not out, Umar Akmal 53 not out)
Northern 191 all out, 64.1 overs (Hammad Azam 52,Umar Amin 42; Zafar Gohar 4-54, Bilal Asif 3-57)
