Central Punjab were in firm control of their round three four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture at Quetta’s Bugti Stadium as they had Balochistan at 119 for five at the close of the second day’s play after putting up 521 for six declared
Lahore (Pakistan Point News - 30th Sep, 2019) Central Punjab were in firm control of their round three four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture at Quetta’s Bugti Stadium as they had Balochistan at 119 for five at the close of the second day’s play after putting up 521 for six declared.
The visitors’ daunting first innings score came on the back of a fantastic double-century by Salman Butt – who scored 237 runs off 376 balls, adding 85 runs to his overnight score. The left-handed opening batsman struck 35 fours in his 549-minute stay at the crease.
From the other end, Zafar Gohar registered his maiden first-class century, scoring an unbeaten 138-ball 100, studded with 14 fours and three sixes.
The two resumed the day for Central Punjab at 338 for five and knitted a 205-run stand, helping their side to bag all five batting points by surpassing the 400-run mark inside 110 overs. For removing five wickets till that stage, Balochistan bagged only one point.
Soon after Yasir Shah, who returned three for 163, got Salman’s wicket, Azhar Ali put the hosts into bat.
Balochistan failed to put up a strong fight from the onset of their reply as Azeem Ghumman, the centurion of the previous match, fell early. They lost three more wickets in a span of just six runs which had them reeling at 58 for four. The hosts lost another wicket 19 runs later.
Opener Imran Butt was the highest run-getter for Balochistan with 33 from 40 balls.
Right-arm fast-bowler Nasim Shah picked up two wickets, giving away only 22 runs in 10 overs. Waqas Maqsood, Ehsan Adil and Mohammad Saad picked up a wicket each.
When the stumps were drawn, Hussain Talat and Bismillah Khan batted at 21 and 23. The two face an arduous task to stage a recovery and save their side from follow-on – with their team trailing by 402 runs – when the play resumes on Monday.
Scores in brief:
Central Punjab 521-6d, 122.2 overs (Salman Butt 237, Azhar Ali 123, Zafar Gohar 100, Kamran Akmal 24; Yasir Shah 3-163)
Balochistan 119-5, 46 overs (Imran Butt 33; Nasim Shah 2-22)
