KARACHI: Trump card Manzoor Khan took three wickets to help SNGPL restrict NBP to a low total in their first innings of the five-day Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Gold league final at Karachi’s National Stadium.
Batting first, NBP compiled 239-8 in their first innings as Manzoor took three wickets, giving away 42 runs in his third first-class match. Experienced Azhar Ali took two for 35, while Asad Ali and Yasir Shah took one each.
After the early dismissal of Nasir Jamshed on three, who was caught behind by Adnan Akmal on Manzoor’s delivery on his 11th minute on the crease, 20-year old Muhammad Nawaz came forward to take the reins of the match in his hands.
Nawaz smashed 13 boundaries to score 76 runs off 139 balls for NBP, while Umar Waheed scored 48 off 160 balls. Captain Kamran Akmal, who is currently the top scorer for NBP in the tournament, was dismissed on the first delivery he faced off Azhar.
At the end of play, Qaiser Abbas was on the crease on 56 off 121 balls with Ahmed Jamal on nine.
Young Manzoor, who was included in only two league matches before the final, took nine wickets in his first two matches, which includes seven wickets in the last match against Wapda and two against Islamabad Leopards. Yesterday’s three wickets take his figures to 12 wickets off 172 runs.
“I’m glad that I was given a chance to make my place in the final,” said Manzoor while talking to The Express Tribune. “Senior and experienced players like Azhar helped me to take the pressure off and helped me keep my composure in the final.
“The pitch is good, we were expecting it to be a batting pitch but it’s a neutral pitch, favouring both bowlers and batsmen,” he added. “I was able to take the main wickets of NBP, which helped us in restricting them to a low total.”
Meanwhile, Nawaz, who has 608 runs to his name in the Gold league, said he tried to stay on the crease as the other end kept collapsing until Waheed came and together they achieved a 106-run partnership.
“Throughout the tournament, our captain Kamran backed me to do well, stressing that I was one of the good performing players of the team. That really pushed me to do something for the team,” said the 20-year old Nawaz.
“We will have to score some more runs on the final day to give a good chasing score for a five-day final. Abbas is a good batsman and still on the crease who has the ability to change the situation of the game.”
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