President's Trophy Grade-I: Suleman, Agha give Kingsmen dominant start to fourth round

ISLAMABAD: Mohammad Suleman and Salman Ali Agha scored unbeaten centuries to help Kingsmen Academy dominate Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) on the opening day of their fourth-round President's Trophy Grade-I match here at the National Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

Kingsmen Academy's captain Mohammad Tayyab Arif's decision to bat first proved beneficial as his side finished the opening day at 430/3 in 90 overs, with both centurions Suleman and Agha unbeaten in the middle, and will resume their first innings on the subsequent day.

Kingsmen Academy got off to a decent start to their innings as their opening pair of captain Tayyab and Mohammad Hurraira put together 74 runs for the first wicket until the latter fell victim to Mohammad Qaiser after scoring 30.

Tayyab was then involved in another important partnership for the Kingsmen Academy when he shared an 80-run stand for the second wicket with fellow top-order batter Suleman before falling agonisingly short of his well-deserved century as he was trapped lbw by Usman Tariq on 98.

Suleman then joined forces with Test batter Saud Shakeel and the duo ensured retaining the momentum in Kingsmen Academy's favour by raising a 95-run partnership for the third wicket.

KRL captain Iftikhar Ahmed eventually broke the threatening partnership, trapping Saud lbw, who walked back after scoring an 81-ball 62, laced with six fours and a six.

Saud's dismissal paved the way for Agha to walk out and bat at No.5, and the Test all-rounder added to further KRL's bowling attack's woes, alongside set batter Suleman, as the duo went on to put together an unbeaten 181-run partnership, during which they both brought up their respective centuries.

Suleman remained the top-scorer with an unbeaten 122 off 199 deliveries, closely followed by Agha, who has made 106 not out from just 115 balls, having smashed 10 fours and two sixes.

For the KRL, only Qaiser, Usman and captain Iftikhar could pick up a wicket apiece on the opening day.

At the Imran Khan Cricket Stadium in Peshawar, Test opener Azan Awais's unbeaten century gave Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) a flamboyant start to their fourth-round President's Trophy Grade-I match against Pakistan Television (PTV) on the opening day.

After being put into bat first, SNGPL endured a brief top-order collapse after an anchoring 79-run opening partnership between Awais and Sameer Minhas, which saw them being reduced to 98/3, but an unbeaten 179-run stand between the opener and Omair Bin Yousuf ultimately recovered them to 277/3 before the stumps.

Sameer, who shared a 79-run opening stand with Awais, was dismissed by Muhammad Shahzad after scoring a 72-ball 34, while fellow top-order batter Abdullah Shafique (nine) and captain Shan Masood (zero) also fell victim to the same bowler.

With the scoreboard reading 98/3 after Shahzad's blitz, Omair joined Awais in the middle, and the duo turned the tide back in SNGPL's favour with an undefeated partnership, during which the opener brought up his century, while Omair notched up his fifty.

Awais remained the top-scorer for SNGPL with an unbeaten 130 off 249 deliveries, while Omair had made 82 not out from 147 balls. The duo will resume SNGPL's first innings on the subsequent day.

Shahzad, who triggered a brief SNGPL collapse, remained PTV's solitary wicket-taker on the opening day with three scalps.

In another fourth-round President's Trophy Grade-I match, Khurram Shahzad's six-wicket haul powered Ghani Glass to a handy 41-run lead over Markhor IT (MIT) Solutions on the opening day at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium in Abbottabad.

MIT Solutions captain Khalid Usman's decision to bat first backfired as their batting unit could yield 150 before getting bowled out in 32.1 overs, courtesy of Khurram, who picked up six wickets for 38 runs in his 7.1 overs.

The Test pacer was supported by experienced all-rounder Shadab Khan, who bagged three wickets, while Shoaib Akhtar Jnr chipped in with one scalp.

Opener Mohammad Farooq remained the top-scorer for MIT Solutions with a 50-ball 47, while Waleed Zahid Bajwa (25), Atiq-ur-Rehman (20) and Samama Riaz (15) were the others to amass double figures.

In response, captain Mohsin Riaz's unbeaten half-century helped Ghani Glass conclude the opening day at 191/4 in 49 overs, with a handy lead in their favour.

Ghani Glass, however, had a contrasting start to their innings as Mohammad Ismail dismissed top-order batters Hammad Butt (12) and Haseebullah (four) early with just 17 runs on the board.

Following the early setbacks, skipper Mohsin joined opener Mirza Tahir Baig in the middle, and the duo batted sensibly to put together 46 runs for the third wicket until Ismail struck again, dismissing the latter, who made a cautious 25 off 68 deliveries.

Mohsin was then involved in another crucial partnership for Ghani Glass when he raised an 86-run stand for the fourth wicket with Hussain Talat, who fell victim to Mohammad Imran Jnr after scoring 47.

The skipper then joined forces with Ali Razzaq and the duo batted sensibly in the dying minutes of the pulsating opening day and ultimately ensured Ghani Glass did not suffer further setbacks with an unbeaten 42-run partnership for the fifth wicket.

Mohsin remained the top-scorer for Ghani Glass with an unbeaten 69 off 112 deliveries, while Ali has made 23 not out from 41 balls.

Ismail has been the standout bowler for MIT Solutions in the first innings, having picked up three wickets for 62 runs in his 16 overs, while Imran Jnr has made one scalp.

At the Diamond Cricket Ground here, the Shahid Aziz-led State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) bowling attack bowled out Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), also featuring Test captain Babar Azam, for a modest 196 in 50 overs.

Shahid spearheaded SBP's bowling charge with four wickets for just 31 runs in his 10 overs, followed by Mubasir Khan with three and Sirajuddin with two, while Afaq Afridi chipped in with one scalp.

Saad Khan remained the top-scorer for OGDCL with a 76-ball 38, closely followed by No.8 Niaz Khan with 28, while Mohammad Hammad Khan (26), Umar Siddiq (24) and Babar (21) were the others to amass double figures.

In turn, in-form opener Hasan Raza's unbeaten half-century kept SBP afloat as they finished the pulsating opening day at 94/3 in 28 overs, trailing by a further 102 runs with seven wickets in hand.

The SBP got off to a shaky start to their response as Mohammad Hasnain, Aftab Khan and Niaz struck once apiece to bring their total down to 42/3, but Hasan held one end firmly and kept the scoreboard ticking singlehandedly.

Hasan was eventually joined by captain Muhammad Ghazi Ghori in the middle, and the duo batted cautiously to raise an unbeaten 52-run partnership for the fourth wicket, which ensured SBP closed out the day without sustaining further damage.

The opener remained the top-scorer for SBP with an unbeaten 52 off 100 deliveries, while skipper Ghazi has made 30 not out. They will resume SBP's response on the subsequent day with a 102-run deficit still to counter.