Faisalabad turn tables on WAPDA

Faisalabad recovered from a poor start on the first day against Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) in Sargodha by securing a 84-run lead on the second, and then building on it. WAPDA began the day on 33 for 3, pursuing Faisalabad's 217, and slumped to 73 for 7. They lost two of those wickets with the score on 53. WAPDA's wicketkeeper Ahmed Said top scored with 40 as wickets tumbled around him and the innings eventually ended on 133 in the 53rd over. Fast bowler Abdur Rauf took 3 for 40 for Faisalabad, while three others took two apiece. In their second innings Faisalabad's openers, Farrukh Shehzad and Shahid Siddiq, made a solid start but both batsmen fell in the space of two runs to leave them at 75 for 2. Hasan Mahmood extended the lead to 188 by stumps with eight wickets intact.

Abbottabad fast bowler Ikramullah Khan took 5 for 53 to help his team secure the first-innings lead against Habib Bank Limited (HBL) at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Ikramullah and his new-ball partner Mohammad Naeem dismissed HBL's openers before a run had been scored and Ikramullah returned to dismiss Khaqan Asral and Hasan Raza, who scored 46 and 61. They were the only HBL batsmen to reach double digits as the innings ended on 156, conceding a lead of 116. Naeem finished with 3 for 45 while Ahmed Jamal took 2 for 34. Abbottabad ended the day on 24 for 1 in their second innings. They had begun the day on 252 for 8 in their first innings but overnight centurion Rameez Ahmed was dismissed early and they got only 272. HBL's Sarmar Ahmed took 5 for 57 and Kamran Hussain took 4 for 52.

Aqeel Anjum scored at unbeaten 80 at No. 8 to give National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) a slender first-innings lead after a top-order implosion against Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground. At one stage, when NBP were tottering at 39 for 6, it was Islamabad who were primed to take a massive lead. NBP resumed the day on 25 for 3, after Islamabad had scored 198, and Nasrullah Khan continued to rip through the line-up, finishing with 5 for 53. It needed the 80 from Anjum, 38 from Kamran Akmal and 24 from extras to drag NBP to 211 before the last wicket fell. Islamabad had wiped out the deficit of 13 by stumps, reaching 108 for 2 at stumps.

Javed Mansoor was the second batsman to score a century in the Karachi Blues innings, after Shahzaib Hasan on the first day, leading them to a formidable first-innings score before their bowlers wrecked Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the National Stadium. Mansoor converted his overnight 66 into 107 and had support from the tail as he took Karachi to 400 before they were dismissed. Fast bowler Mohammad Khalil took 101 for 6 for ZTBL. Karachi Blues' new-ball attack of Mohammad Sami and Sohail Khan dismissed the top four ZTBL batsmen cheaply, reducing them to 45 for 4. Medium-pacer Tariq Haroon then took three wickets as ZTBL ended the day in deep trouble at 128 for 7.

Half-centuries from two top-order batsmen and a generous number of extras allowed Sialkot to make a strong reply in their first innings against State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) at the Jinnah Stadium. Mohammad Yasin made 72 and Majid Jahangir was unbeaten on 54 as Sialkot reached 187 for 2 at stumps. They were also given 41 runs through extras in only 59 overs. Earlier in the day, SBP had extended their overnight score of 249 for 7 to 341. Most of their second-day runs were scored by Rameez Aziz, who was 72 overnight and finished on 121. Prince Abbas, one of nine bowlers used by Sialkot, took 5 for 106.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) ended the second day with a strong chance of taking a first-innings lead against Rawalpindi at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. PIA were on 259 for 4 at the start of play but their overnight batsmen were out early. Fahad Iqbal was out for 136 after resuming on 112 and Shoaib Khan snr did not add to his 70. The tail made useful contributions to take PIA to 338. Mohammad Rameez, Nasir Malik and Babar Naeem took three wickets each for Rawalpindi. PIA's Ali Imran, however, produced a three-wicket spell as well to jolt Rawalpindi. They were reduced to 89 for 5 before wicketkeeper Jamal Anwar clubbed 60 of 43 balls. He was out shortly before stumps and Rawalpindi ended on 168 for 6.