President's Trophy Grade-I: Taha leads PTV's fight back against SBP on second day

ABBOTTABAD: Mohammad Taha's unbeaten century helped Pakistan Television (PTV) make a spirited start in response to State Bank of Pakistan's (SBP) 433 all out on the second day of their second-round President's Trophy Grade-I match here at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

At the stumps on the second day, the PTV were 268/3, trailing SBP by 165 runs, with centurion Taha and Sharoon Siraj unbeaten in the middle.

Earlier in the day, SBP resumed their first innings from a precarious position, with their scoreboard reading 278/8, but a resilient century from Rameez Aziz scripted an astounding turnaround as they added 155 more to their overnight score and eventually finished at 433 all out in 95.1 overs.

Rameez resumed SBP's innings alongside Naqeebullah, and the duo stretched their ninth-wicket partnership to 181 runs, with the No.10 batter contributing with a half-century.

The middle-order batter remained their top-scorer with 120 off 160 deliveries, studded with 17 fours and two sixes, while Naqeebullah made a 72-ball 74 with the help of 14 boundaries, including four sixes.

Amad Butt was the standout bowler for PTV as he picked up four wickets for 101 runs in his 30 overs, followed by Mohammad Musa and Haris Rauf with three and two, respectively, while Muhammad Shahzad made one scalp.

In response to SBP's 433 all out, PTV got off to a shaky start as Naqeebullah removed their opener Waqar Hussain (14) early with just 29 runs on the board.

His dismissal paved the way for Taha to walk out and bat at No.3, and he stabilised PTV's innings with an unbeaten century, during which he also shared crucial partnerships with Yasir Khan and Muhammad Shahzad, who chipped in with 73 and 48, respectively.

Taha remained the top-scorer for PTV with 103 not out off 177 deliveries and will resume their response on the penultimate day alongside Sharoon, who had made an unbeaten 18.

At the Diamond Cricket Stadium in Islamabad, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) put on a decent show with the bat after conceding a massive lead of 257 against Ghani Glass on the second day of their second-round President's Trophy Grade-I match.

The pulsating second day commenced with Ghani Glass resuming their first innings from 192/2 in response to SNGPL's 152 all out and went on to pile up a formidable total of 409 all out in 103.2 overs, courtesy of half-centuries from Khawaja Arham, Mohammad Rameez Jnr and captain Mohsin Riaz.

Rameez spearheaded Ghani Glass' batting charge on the second day with an anchoring 76 off 125 deliveries, while Arham and Mohsin chipped in with 54 and 51, respectively.

Experienced Sharjeel Khan, who made a blistering 156 on the opening day, remained Ghani Glass's top-scorer in the first innings.

For SNGPL, Shahnawaz Dahani picked up three wickets for 103 runs in his 21 overs, followed by Sajid Khan and Khan Zaib with two each, while Shehzad Gul and Mohammad Imran made one scalp apiece.

In response, Minhas ensured a decent start to the second innings for SNGPL with an unbeaten half-century, which helped them conclude the day at 106/2, reducing the deficit to 151 runs.

The emerging opener remained SNGPL's top-scorer in the second innings with an unbeaten 67 off 71 deliveries, comprising 11 fours. He also shared a crucial 83-run partnership for the second wicket with Imran Dogar, who chipped in with a 42-ball 25.

Khurram Shahzad and Ali Shabbir have thus far managed to pick one wicket apiece in the second innings for Ghani Glass.

In another second-round President's Trophy Grade-I match, Markhor IT (MIT) Solutions piled up a mammoth total of 660 all out on the second day at the Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi before Khan Research Laboratories' (KRL) spirited start.

At the commencement of the second day's play, MIT Solutions resumed their first innings from 476/4 and went on to add 184 more to their overnight total, courtesy of a century-plus partnership between Mohammad Salman and Samama Riaz, and eventually finished at 660 all out in 126.1 overs.

Salman, who resumed MIT Solutions' innings, lost his overnight partner Bismillah Khan (17), while upcoming batter Ali Asfand (nine) also perished cheaply, resulting in the side slipping down to 501/6.

Following the back-to-back setbacks, Samama joined Salman in the middle, and the duo retained MIT Solutions' dominance by putting together 116 runs for the seventh wicket.

Salman went on to top-score for MIT Solutions with 181 off 296 deliveries, studded with 20 fours and two sixes, while Samama chipped in with a 72-ball 50.

Ahmed Bashir spearheaded KRL's bowling charge with a five-wicket haul, conceding 100 runs and taking 22.1 overs. He was supported by Mohammad Hamza and Iftikhar Ahmed, who bagged two wickets each, while Arshad Iqbal made one scalp.

In response to MIT Solutions' mammoth total, Shahzaib Khan's unbeaten half-century helped KRL finish the second day at 140/3, with the deficit reduced to 520 runs.

Shahzaib remained the top-scorer with an unbeaten 60 off 127 deliveries, and will resume their response on the penultimate day alongside unmarked wicketkeeper batter Asim Ali.

The opening batter shared important partnerships with Mohammad Faiq and captain Iftikhar, who made 47 and 24, respectively.

Mohammad Ismail has been the standout bowler for MIT Solutions, having picked up two wickets for 43 runs in his 12 overs, while Mohammad Imran has claimed one.

At the Imran Khan Cricket Stadium in Peshawar, half-centuries from Danish Aziz and captain Rohail Nazir steered Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) to a handy lead over Kingsmen Academy on the second day of their second-round President's Trophy Grade-I fixture.

Earlier in the day, OGDCL resumed their first innings from 57/3 in response to Kingsmen Academy's 215 all out and went on to add 241 more runs to their overnight score, ultimately finishing at 298 all out in 89 overs.

Leading the way for OGDCL was all-rounder Danish, who top-scored with an unbeaten 93 off 168 deliveries, closely followed by captain Rohail, who made an anchoring 81. Besides them, middle-order batter Mohammad Irfan (21) was the other notable run-getter.

For Kingsmen Academy, Mohammad Ilyas picked up four wickets for 57 runs in his 16 overs, followed by Mehran Mumtaz and Salman Ali Agha with two each, while Mohammad Umar and Shoaib Afridi made one scalp apiece.

Trailing by 83 runs, Kingsmen Academy made a cautious start to their second innings and could reach 35/0 in nine overs before stumps were drawn.

Openers Mohammad Arshad and Muhammad Hurraira, unbeaten on 19 and 15, respectively, will resume Kingsmen Academy's second innings on the penultimate day as they trail OGDCL by a further 48 runs.