Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Grade II: Waqas century helps Karachi Blues reach 374-6

Puts on 148-run stand with opener Khurram Manzoor

KARACHI: Muhammad Waqas scored a century to help Karachi Blues reach 374 in their first innings on the opening day of the four-day final Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Grade II match against Multan at the Pindi Stadium on Thursday.

Put in to bat, Karachi Blues got off to a nightmare start as they lost opener Mohtashim Ali on a duck. However, the next man in, Waqas, scored 127 runs off 152 balls hitting 13 fours and a six to build up a 148-run second-wicket partnership with  Khurram Manzoor, who faced 95 balls to make 78.

Akbarur Rehman also scored 66 runs off 76 balls, while Pakistan internationals Asad Shafiq (7) and Fawad Alam (16) were unable to replicate the impact of their less illustrious teammates.



Multan’s Ziaul Haq and Majid Ali took two wickets each but gave away 84 and 73 runs respectively, while Rizwan Haider took one. At the end of play, Saifullah Bangash (24) and Sohail Khan (43) were on the crease with a score of 374-6.

“We are trying to score as many as we can in the first innings so if the match ends in a draw, we can win due to our first-innings advantage,” told Waqas to The Express Tribune. “I am glad I was able to score so many, but we are still expecting runs from Sohail who scored a century in the semi-final.”



Waqas knows their work isn’t done yet though. “Multan also have good batsmen like Kashif Javed, Sohaib Maqsood and Saeed Anwar Junior who can be difficult to dismiss,” he added.

The team who wins this match will be promoted to Grade I — Quaid-e-Azam Trophy — which will be played later this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st,  2016.

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