QeA Trophy 2019/20 Round 10 begins

Central Punjab vs Southern Punjab:

A 179-run stand between captain Ahmed Shehzad and debutant Abdullah Shafiq put Central Punjab in a formidable position on the opening day of the last round of Quaid-e-Azam trophy encounter against Southern Punjab at the State Bank stadium, Karachi. 

Central Punjab, elected to bat after winning the toss in the decisive fixture of the four-day first-class tournament.

The table-toppers, with 120 points, got an early blow when Zia-ul-Haq trapped Salman Butt (7) LBW on 24, however captain Ahmed Shehzad and Abdullah Shafiq shielded Central Punjab from the onslaught, scoring half century each before the lunch interval.

The duo piled on the runs after the lunch break but Ahmed Shehzad perished soon after stroking his 13th first-class century. Rahat Ali came into his own in the 50th over to dismiss Ahmed Shehzad on 100 to end the 179-run stand between Ahmed and Abdullah for the second wicket. Ahmed's innings was stitched with 11 fours.

Rahat, on the very next ball, sent Umar Akmal packing on a duck. 

Abdullah Shafiq consolidated with Usman Salahuddin, scoring his maiden first-class century. He finally  got out on 133 off 209 deliveries with 16 fours and a six.

Experienced Kamran Akmal joined Usman Salahuddin at the twilight of the day to plug the wickets flow and escort Central Punjab to 334 for four when stumps were drawn.

Before the commencement of the tenth round, Central Punjab were on top of the table with an aggregate of 120, while Southern Punjab were on fourth pedestal with 102 points.

Balochistan vs Sindh:

Imran Farhat and Akbar-ur-Rehman scored centuries to put Balochistan in a strong position against Sindh on day-one of the four-day tenth round first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match at the National Stadium, Karachi on Monday.

Farhat and Rehman came together at the score of 2 for 8 and forged an undefeated third wicket stand of 263 runs by stumps with Balochistan finishing with a total of 271 for 2.

Farhat, who is captaining Balochistan, scored the 37th century of his first-class career and continued a rich vein of form as this was his second hundred in his last six matches besides three other big fifties in the tournament.

Akbar got his 12th first-class century as Balochistan overcame a shaky start to reach a formidable position at close.

Farhat had scored 137 from 262 balls with 18 fours while Akbar reached 121 from 260 balls with 14 hits to the boundary.

Balochistan batting first due to an uncontested toss got off to a shaky start when the inform Imran Butt was bowled for just 3 runs by Sohail Khan and Mir Hamza removed Azeem Ghuman for three on the same score.

Farhat an experienced campaigner saw off the new ball and then started to open up with some fine shots against the four-man pace attack of Sohail, Hamza, Tabish Khan and Anwar Ali.

Sindh captain, Sarfaraz Ahmed was forced to try out eight bowlers to break the partnership. Left arm spinner, Fawad Alam bowled an economical spell of 13 overs for just 23 runs but the two batsmen went after young Mohsin hitting him for 55 runs in his nine overs.

Farhat completed his century from 163 balls with 15 fours while Rehman reached his hundred from 221 balls with 11 fours. 

Both the teams are playing the match for the fifth and sixth positions on the points table when the round matches end on Thursday as the top four teams, Central Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern Punjab and Southern Punjab are all in the run to play the final.

Northern vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:

Northern got off to a positive start in their all-important Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 10th round first-class fixture against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa posting 341 for five at close on day-one of the four-day match being played at the UBL Sports Complex in Karachi on Monday.

Zeeshan Malik, Ali Sarfaraz, Faizan Riaz, Hammad Azam and Sarmad Bhatti all scored half-centuries to help their team maintain a healthy run-rate.

Northern will be eyeing full five batting points at the completion of 110 overs of their innings which they will attain if they reach 400 runs.

A win for third-placed Northern will confirm their spot in the 27-31 December, five-day final of the tournament, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the other hand need to draw the match to secure a final’s berth.

On Monday, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s captain Fakhar Zaman won the toss and opted to bowl first, Northern lost their ace batsman Umar Amin for three to left-armer Usman Shinwari.

Zeeshan (61 off 94 balls, 11 fours) added 70 runs for the second wicket with Ali Sarfaraz (50 off 84 balls, eight fours).

Zeeshan was dismissed by Fakhar at the stroke of lunch while post-lunch, Sarfaraz perished with the team score at 139 to off-spinner Sajid Khan.

Middle-order batsman Faizan scored a 70-ball 63 with the help of seven fours and one six. The best partnership of the day was between Hammad (76 off 108 balls, seven fours and two sixes) and Sarmad (70 not out, 156 balls, seven fours, one six) the two added 146 runs for the fifth wicket to take their team past the 300-run mark.

Hammad was dismissed by Sajid shortly before close.

Day two of the 10th round matches continues today.