Quaid Trophy: Faisal’s ton helps Karachi Blues dominate 2nd day

Captain hits 117 as team piles up 502 against Quetta.

KARACHI:

Karachi Blues’ captain Faisal Iqbal opened his Quaid-e-Azam Trophy campaign with a century on the second day of the first match against Quetta at the NBP Sports Complex, Karachi.

Blues declared their innings on 502 for nine as Khurram Manzoor top-scored with 162, hitting a six and 15 boundaries. Iqbal scored a quick 117 off 146 balls with 15 strikes to the fence. Jalat Khan took four wickets before Quetta reached 28 for one at stumps, trailing by 476 runs.

The other matches of Group I – Lahore Ravi v Sialkot in Gujrat and Islamabad v Multan in the capital – were washed out for the second day running.

Meanwhile, Karachi Whites continued to struggle against Lahore Shalimar as they ended the day on 54 for four in their second-innings, trailing by 30 runs at the National Stadium. Saad Ali was unbeaten on 33 while Aizaz Cheema took two wickets. Earlier, Mohammad Sami managed a five-wicket haul as Shalimar were bowled out for 254 with captain Usman Salahuddin scoring a determined 63.

In another Group II match, Abbottabad’s disciplined bowling enabled them to secure a first-innings lead by restricting Hyderabad to 170 as the hosts were chasing 228 at the Niaz Stadium. Abbottabad added 61 for one in 18.2 overs to stretch their overall lead to 119 runs. Earlier, Mir Ali Talpur made 66 with two sixes and eight boundaries for Hyderabad. Yasir Shah took four wickets while Fazal-e-Rabi and Khalid Usman removed two batsmen apiece.

Little play was possible on day two at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha where Usman Tariq’s unbeaten 39 propelled Bahawalpur to 89 for three in 40 overs against Faisalabad.

Rule changes not welcomed by regions

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) continued to make delayed decisions in domestic cricket.

The board has now introduced another new rule of allowing five more departmental players to play for regional sides in ongoing Quaid Trophy which has not been welcomed by cricket associations. The new decision would mean that the departments would have a pool of 10 departmental players to choose from but only four will get chance to play the match.

But the regional associations see the decision as an effort to undermine regional cricket and an added favour to promote departmental players.

“PCB is making late decisions as if they are getting up late from their sleep,” a regional cricket chief told The Express Tribune. “The new ruling is beyond my understanding. The availability of 10 players means even those who didn’t do well in Presidents Trophy get another lifeline.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2012.