Saad Baig anchors Karachi Whites’ resurgence with gritty 190

Opening batter Saad Baig produced a marathon knock of 190 off 267 balls, laced with 26 fours and a six, to spearhead Karachi Whites’ strong reply after Hyderabad’s imposing 637-8 declared.

On a rain-affected day limited to just 75 overs at the Abbasia Sports Complex in Rahim Yar Khan, Baig’s innings proved the cornerstone of his side’s spirited fightback in the first innings.

Whites finished the day three with 466-5 on the board in 104 overs still trailing by 171 with Mohammad Usman (95 not out, 141b, 11x4s, 1x6) nearing a century and skipper Saifullah Bangash unbeaten on 22.

Earlier, Saad’s 157-run stand with Mohammad Taha (76, 101b, 8x4s, 1x6) came to an end when Test spinner Noman Ali cleaned up both the batters in quick succession. The left arm spinner accounted for three wickets in his 34 overs.

Meanwhile, no play was possible at Multan Cricket Stadium and Dring Stadium, Bahawalpur due to rain.

Group B

At the National Bank Stadium, Rawalpindi had gained 222-run lead in the second innings over FATA as opening batter Yasir Khan’s brisk 84 off 99 balls (9x4s, 1x6s) helped them reach 178-3 in 43 overs at stumps on day three.

Earlier, Mubasir Khan romped to a five-wicket haul in 33.5 overs returning figures of 5-84 as FATA stumbled from their overnight score of 237-4 to 331 all out in 41.3 overs. Left arm spinner Mehran Mumtaz backed up his fellow off-spinner with figures of 3-91.

Karachi Blues’ Rameez Aziz (101, 198b, 10x4s, 1x6) struck a dogged century batting at no.6, while skipper Saud Shakeel chipped in with a five fours-laden 72 to take their team from overnight score of 192-3 in 51 overs to 397-9 in 141 overs at stumps in reply to Multan’s 454-8 (dec) in the first innings at the SBP Sports Complex.

No.9 batter Arif Yaqoob helped Rameez get to three-digit score by holding one end as he faced 119 balls for just nine runs in a 36-run stand. For Multan, Hasan Hafeez, making his regional debut, snapped five wickets for 84 runs in 26 overs.

Blues trail by 57 runs with one more wicket in hand.

Dera Murad Jamali (DM Jamali) required 334 more runs to win with six wickets in hand against Larkana, when the stumps were drawn at the UBL Sports Complex Karachi. DM Jamali had reached 142-4 in 40 overs at close of play.

Earlier, Malhar Rasool’s 119 off 166 balls and half-centuries from first innings centurion Sabit Ali (66, 93b, 7x4s, 1x6) and no.6 batter Ghulam Raza (53 not out, 76b, 2x4s, 2x6s) helped Larkana reach 330-5 declared in 81.2 overs in their second innings, setting DM Jamali a mammoth target of 476.

Larkana resumed the day from their overnight score of 150-1 in 34 overs and built strongly on their first innings lead of 145.

Scores in brief – Stumps Day 3

Group A

Faisalabad v Lahore Blues at Multan Cricket Stadium

Lahore Blues trail by 369 runs in first innings

Faisalabad 469 all out, 124.1 overs (Abdul Samad 161, Ali Shan 83, Muhammad Irfan Khan 52, Ibtisam Rehman 50, Faham-ul-Haq 32, Shehzad Gul 26; Abubakar 3-81, Qasim Akram 3-118, Aamir Jamal 2-80)

Lahore Blues 100-1, 19 overs (Mohammad Saleem 60 not out, Imran Butt 34)

Hyderabad v Karachi Whites at Abbasia Sports Complex, Rahim Yar Khan

Karachi Whites trail by 171 runs in first innings

Hyderabad 637-7, 140.2 overs (Rizwan Mehmood 189, Mohammad Suleman 159, Ali Shan 100 retired hurt, Saad Khan 99; Mohammad Raza 2-84, Asad Akhtar 2-88, Aarish Ali Khan 2-143)

Karachi Whites 466-5, 104 overs (Saad Baig 190, Mohammad Usman 95 not out, Mohammad Taha 76, Jahanzaib Sultan 76, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay 29, Saifullah Bangash 22 not out)

Quetta v Azad Jammu & Kashmir at Dring Stadium, Bahawalpur

AJK lead by 96 runs in first innings

Quetta 213 all out, 58.1 overs (Abdul Wahid Bangalzai 104, Shahbaz Khan 21; Aqib Liaqat 4-59, Zaman Khan 3-36)

AJK 309-3, 83 overs (Hasnain Shamir 113 not out, Hasan Raza 87, Umar Hayat 53, Nadeem Khalil 36 not out; Mohammad Javed 2-57)

Group B

Rawalpindi v FATA at National Bank Stadium, Karachi

Rawalpindi lead by 222 runs in second innings with seven wickets in hand

Rawalpindi 375 all out, 108.5 overs (Abdul Faseeh 70, Aqib Shah 62, Atif Khan 54, Affan Ishaq 54, Taimur Khan 36; Sameen Gul 4-77) and 178-3, 43 overs (Yasir Khan 84, Affan Ishaq 39 not out, Abdul Faseeh 36)

FATA 331 all out, 104.3 overs (Mohammad Farooq 108, Mohammad Wasim Khan 70, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi 37, Asif Afridi 33, Salman Khan Jnr 24, Azaz Khan 20; Mubasir Khan 5-84, Mehran Mumtaz 3-91, Mohammad Faizan 2-65)

Karachi Blues v Multan at SBP Sports Complex, Karachi

Karachi Blues trail by 57 runs in first innings

Multan 454-8, 117.4 overs (Zain Abbas 124, Waqar Hussain 85, Sharoon Siraj 45 83, Arafat Minhas 82, Muhammad Shahzad 25; Mir Hamza 3-78, Arif Yaqoob 2-127)

Karachi Blues 397-9, 141 overs (Rameez Aziz 101, Abdullah Fazal 75, Saud Shakeel 72, Omair Bin Yousuf 62, Haroon Arshad 22; Hasan Hafeez 5-84, Arafat Minhas 2-77)

Dera Murad Jamali Region v Larkana at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi

DM Jamali require 334 runs to win with six wickets in hand on day four

Larkana 311 all out, 89.4 overs (Sabit Ali 115, Mohsin Raza 100, Ghulam Raza 49; Mohammad Shahid 3-61, Abu Huraira 3-84, Nasir Khan 2-40, Fahad Hussain 2-70) & 330-5 dec, 81.2 overs (Malhar Rasool 119, Sabit Ali 66, Ghulam Raza 53, Faraz Aziz 27, Mohsin Raza 24; Mohammad Shahid 2-5)

DM Jamali 166 all out, 55.2 overs (Taimur Ali 59, Dawood Khan 35, Fahad Hussain 20; Zahid Mehmood 4-71, Aamir Ali Taheem 2-17, Mushtaq Ahmed 2-27) & 142-4, 40 overs (Fahad Hussain 38 not out, Dawood Khan 36 not out; Mushtaq Ahmed 2-14)

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