President's Trophy Grade-I: Abdullah's triple ton puts SBP in firm control

ISLAMABAD: Abdullah Fazal's unbeaten century on the third day gave State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) a massive lead over Ghani Glass in their third-round President's Trophy Grade-I match here at the National Cricket Ground on Saturday.

Abdullah, who resumed SBP's first innings from 378/0 in response to Ghani Glass's 322 all out, alongside fellow opener and overnight double centurion Hasan Raza, went on to smash his maiden first-class triple century, as the side stretched their total to 638/5 and piled up a substantial 316-run lead.

The right-handed batter, who made his Test debut for Pakistan earlier this year during their away series against Bangladesh, remained the top-scorer for SBP in their first innings with a monumental 309 off 339 deliveries, studded with 29 fours and 11 sixes.

He will resume SBP's strong batting charge on the final day alongside Rameez Aziz, who was unbeaten on two when the stumps were drawn on the penultimate day.

Earlier in the day, Abdullah and Hasan also stretched their overnight first-wicket partnership to 417 until the latter fell victim to Abuzar and walked back after scoring a mammoth 222 off 221 deliveries, laced with 31 fours and two sixes.

The Test batter then also shared two crucial partnerships with Kamran Ghulam and captain Ghazi Ghori, who contributed with 54 and 32, respectively.

For Ghani Glass, Abuzar and Khawaja Arham have picked up two wickets each, while Khurram Shahzad has made one scalp.

At the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium in Abbottabad, Arshad Iqbal's five-wicket haul helped Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) acquire a handy 181-run lead over Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) on the third day of their respective third-round President's Trophy Grade-I fixture.

Earlier in the day, KRL resumed their first innings from 377/8, could add 21 more to their overnight score and were thus bowled out for 398 in 117.3 overs.

Overnight centurion Sarmad Bhatti remained their top-scorer with 136 off 228 deliveries, comprising 23 fours, while all-rounder Faheem Ashraf, with whom he shared a 145-run partnership on the second day, was the other notable run-getter with a 100-ball 83.

Mohammad Hasnain was the pick of the bowlers for OGDCL as he bagged three wickets for 96 runs in his 25 overs, followed by Razaullah and Mohammad Amir Khan with two each, while Mohammad Salman, Mohammad Hammad Khan and Danish Aziz made one scalp apiece.

In turn, OGDCL could only muster 217 before getting bowled out in 63.1 overs despite a valiant half-century by Hammad as Arshad ran through their batting unit with a five-wicket haul, which included the prized scalp of Pakistan Test captain Babar Azam, who made a 20-ball 12.

Hammad remained the top-scorer with an unbeaten 55 off 104 deliveries, followed by captain Rohail Nazir (48) and all-rounder Danish (40).

Arshad finished with sensational bowling figures of 5/55 in his 16 overs. He was supported by captain Iftikhar Ahmed and Ahmed Bashir, who bagged two wickets each, while Faheem chipped in with one scalp.

With a 181-run advantage in their favour, KRL started their second innings in the dying minutes of the penultimate day and could only reach 34/0 in 10 overs before stumps were drawn.

Openers Waqar Ahmed and Ali Zaryab, unbeaten on 17 and 12, respectively, will resume KRL's second innings on the final day, with their lead over OGDCL now standing at 215 runs.

In another third-round President's Trophy Grade-I match, captain Khalid Usman's six-wicket haul steered Markhor IT (MIT) Solutions to a 201-run lead over Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) on the third day at the Imran Khan Cricket Stadium in Peshawar.

At the commencement of the third day's play, SNGPL resumed their first innings from 32/3 in response to MIT Solutions' 434/9 declared, and could add 201 more to their overnight score for the remaining nine wickets, thus getting bowled out for 233 in 89.3 overs.

Middle-order batter Omair Bin Yousuf waged a lone battle for SNGPL with a half-century and top-scored with 61 off 132 deliveries before falling victim to MIT Solutions captain Usman, who finished with sensational figures of 6/63 in 33.3 overs.

Besides Yousuf, No.8 Mohammad Imran made a notable contribution to SNGPL's total with a 71-ball 46, while Muhammad Awais Zafar and captain Sajid Khan made 29 and 22, respectively.

Mohammad Ismail supported his captain Usman in MIT Solutions' strong bowling charge by taking two wickets, while Mohammad Imran Jnr chipped in with one.

Despite having a 201-run advantage in their favour, MIT Solutions got off to a shaky start to their second innings as Mohammad Azab dismissed their opener Mohammad Farooq (five) early with just five runs on the board.

Following the early stutter, Syed Awad Naqvi joined opener Hasnain Nadeem in the middle, and the duo batted sensibly to take MIT Solutions to 33/1 before the stumps were drawn.

Hasnain and Awad, unbeaten on 20 and six, respectively, will resume MIT Solutions' second innings on the final day, with their lead now standing at 234.

At the Diamond Cricket Ground here, Test batter Saud Shakeel's anchoring century scripted Kingsmen Academy's strong response to Pakistan Television's (PTV) 355 all out and gave his side a substantial 213-run lead.

Kingsmen Academy, who resumed their first innings from 237/2, went on to pile up a mammoth total of 568/8 declared in 132.3 overs, courtesy of Saud's century, coupled with fifties from all-rounder Salman Ali Agha and wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Shayan.

Saud and overnight centurion Mohammad Hurraira, who resumed Kingsmen Academy's response on the penultimate day, stretched their overnight partnership to 109 until the opener fell victim to Sharoon Siraj and walked back after top-scoring with 165 off 263 deliveries, smashing 23 fours and a six.

Following Hurraira's dismissal, Saud took the reins of Kingsmen Academy's batting charge and went on to propel them to a mammoth total with a century, scoring exactly 100 off 147 deliveries, with the help of 18 fours.

His efforts were backed by Agha and Shayan, who contributed with 72 and 53, respectively, while Azan Tariq chipped in with a 69-ball 48.

For PTV, Mohammad Taha picked up three wickets for just 34 runs in his six overs, followed by Kashif Ali with two, while Muhammad Shahzad, Israr Hussain and Sharoon made one scalp apiece.

With a 213-run deficit to counter, PTV got off to an unwanted start to their second innings as they lost opener Yasir Khan (six) early with just 21 runs on the board.

Following the early setback, Taha joined opener Waqar Hussain in the middle, and the duo raised a 41-run partnership until the latter fell victim to Shoaib Afridi after scoring 37 off 50 deliveries, bringing PTV's total down to 62/2.

Taha and newly-arrived batter Mohammad Ammar, unbeaten on 15 and zero, could not add further to PTV's total before the culmination of the third day's play. The duo will now resume PTV's second innings on the final day as they trail Kingsmen Academy by a further 151 runs with eight wickets in hand.