Lahore, 23 September 2023:
Larkana v AJK (Mirpur Cricket Stadium)
AJK won the toss and elected to bowl first. Larkana had an unimpressive start to the game. They lost four wickets in the day; Umer Khalid, Malhar Rasool, Israr Ul Haq and Hamesh Kumar all departed without adding much to the scoreboard.
Faizan Saleem and Basit Ali were incredible with the new ball, bagging two wickets each and pushing Larkana on the backfoot early in the game, before the side could get any teeth in the game.
Larkana ended the day at 41 for four, with Ishfaque Ahmed and Faraz Aziz on the crease.
Sialkot v Quetta (Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium)
Sialkot started the day at 276, at the loss of just three wickets. Mohsin Riaz and Haris Sohail were set on the crease.
The two shared a partnership of 146 runs after which Mohsin was removed by Bakhtiuat Khan. He departed after scoring a magnificent 142. Ammad Butt, who replaced Mohsin on the crease, carried the momentum.
A partnership of 131 runs between Haris and Ammad further helped Sialkot dominate over the Quetta bowlers. Ammad lost his wicket when the side was standing at 505. Sialkot thus declared at 505 for five, and invited Quetta to bat.
Opener Mohammad Ibrahim Snr and number three batter Abdul Wahid Bangalzai both lost their wickets cheaply. Hazrat Wali, the Quetta opener, attempted to give his side a solid start to ensure that they remained in the game despite the mammoth total produced in the first innings. However, he was dismissed for 42 runs.
Quetta, having lost their two most important batter – Wali and Abdul Wahid – found themselves in a tricky situation by the time stumps were called. They were 87 for three, trailing by 418 runs.
Karachi Blues v DM Jamali (Rahim Yar Khan Cricket Stadium)
Owing to the performance displayed by the Karachi Blues middle order the previous day, the side began their day with 290 runs, at the expense of seven wickets. They managed to scrape to 303 before they were bowled out early in the day.
DM Jamali had an unimpressive outing with the bat; trailing by 303 runs, the side was bowled out for only 117 runs with just two batters crossing the 20 run-mark.
Karachi’s collective bowling effort was a challenge too difficult for the DM Jamali batters. Particularly, Saqib and Aarish Ali Khan, with three wickets each, helped keep the opposition under pressure.
Secure in the game leading by 186 runs, Karachi began batting for the second time. They lost three wickets in the day, however, the flow of runs did not stagnate.
They ended the day at 117 for three.
Bahawalpur v Abbottabad (Multan Cricket Stadium)
At the start of the day, Abbottabad had lost three wickets with 76 runs on the board. They were trailing by 142 runs.
Afaq Ahmed, who registered a century to his name, kept the scorecard flowing while the rest of his colleagues could not stay on the crease long enough to solidify their impacts in the innings. The second highest scorer from the side was Ahmed Khan, who scored 34 runs.
Bahawalpur bowlers displayed a collective effort; Shayan Khalil got three wickets, while Mohammad Junaid, Faizan Zafar and Mohammad Umair got two wickets each.
Abbottabad got 253 runs before they were bowled out.
At the start of Bahawalpur’s second batting innings, the game stood in the balance with the side trailing by under 50 runs.
However, Bahawalpur lost two wickets by the end of the day, including the set batter Ibrar Amin who was run-out. They ended the day at 42 for two.
Scores in brief
Larkana v AJK (Mirpur Cricket Stadium)
Larkana: 41-4 in 17 overs (Faraz Aziz 10*; Faizan Saleem 2-10, Basit Ali 2-13)
Sialkot v Quetta (Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium)
Sialkot: 505-5 (dec) in 159.4 overs (Mohsin Riaz 142, Haris Sohail 105*; Jalat Khan 2-142)
Quetta: 87-3 in 28 overs (Hazrat Wali 42; Usman Khalid 2-10)
Karachi Blues v DM Jamali (Rahim Yar Khan Cricket Stadium)
Karachi Blues: 303 all out in 94.1 overs (Saifullah Bangash 73, Saqib 56; Salim Mal 3-65, Tariq Jameel 2-29, Sajjad Ahmed 2-85) and 117-3 in 29 overs (Mohammad Arbaaz Khan 37, Hassan Mohsin 34*; Salim Mal 2-23)
DM Jamali: 117 all out in 53.1 overs (Nasir Khan 23, Mohammad Shahid 23; Saqib 3-26, Aarish Ali Khan 3-30)
Bahawalpur v Abbottabad (Multan Cricket Stadium)
Bahawalpur: 218 all out in 67.1 overs (Mohammad Umair 36, Faizan Zafar 31; Shahhab 5-63) and 42-2 in 19 overs (Ibrar Amin 32; Fayyaz Khan 1-8)
Abbottabad: 253 all out in 89.1 overs (Afaq Ahmed 108, Ahmed Khan 34; Shayan Khalil 3-46)
