KARACHI: Ghani Glass’ pace duo of Shoaib Akhtar Jr and Khurram Shahzad ran through Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) batting on the opening day of the second round of the President’s Trophy Grade-I on Friday, while MIT Solutions piled up 476-4 against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) with centuries from Mohammad Farooq, Atiq-ur-Rehman and Salman Khan Jr.
At the Diamond Cricket Ground in Islamabad, Shoaib (5-34) claimed his fourth first-class five-wicket haul and Pakistan international Khurram registered 4-42 as SNGPL were bowled out for 152. Ghani Glass then strengthened their position with a rapid 192-2, led by Sharjeel Khan’s 15th first-class century.
Sameer Minhas and Mohammad Imran were SNGPL’s main contributors, scoring 53 and 52 respectively, but the rest of the batting failed to offer much resistance.
Ghani Glass lost Mirza Tahir Baig for a golden duck before Sharjeel took charge. The left-hander struck 156 off just 120 balls, hitting 25 fours and five sixes, and put on 186 for the second wicket with Khawaja Arham, who was unbeaten on 33.
Sharjeel’s onslaught left Ghani Glass 40 runs ahead with eight wickets in hand at stumps.
At the Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, MIT Solutions produced the day’s biggest batting performance after opting to bat against KRL.
Farooq set the tone with a breathtaking 163 off 99 balls, including 11 fours and 14 sixes. He reached his century from 67 balls and surpassed Majid Khan’s record for most sixes by a Pakistan batter in a first-class innings.
It was Farooq’s third first-class century and his second in successive matches.
After Farooq was dismissed, Atiq and Salman continued the onslaught, adding 217 for the fourth wicket. Atiq made 142 off 137 balls, with 17 fours and two sixes, while Salman remained unbeaten on 106 from 199 balls, hitting 12 fours and a six
At the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium, State Bank of Pakistan reached 278-9 against Pakistan Television despite three wickets apiece for Musa Khan (3-47) and Ammad Butt (3-60).
Hasan Raza top-scored with 75 off 106 balls, hitting nine fours, while Mohammad Ghazi Ghori, fresh from his recent Test debut against England, made 66 off 79 balls with nine fours.
Rameez Aziz remained unbeaten on 42 off 73 balls at the close, with Sirajuddin and Faham-ul-Haq contributing 25 and 23 respectively.
Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf claimed 2-73. At the Imran Khan Stadium in Peshawar, Mohammad Amir Khan claimed 5-51 for Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDCL) after Kingsmen Academy captain Mohammad Tayyab Arif had struck a maiden first-class century in a see-sawing opening day.
Amir ran through Kingsmen’s lower order to help dismiss them for 215, with Mohammad Hasnain providing support with 3-36.
Tayyab, playing only his second first-class match, had earlier held the Kingsmen innings together after walking in at No. 3 with 20 on the board. He made 105 off 110 balls, hitting 14 fours and three sixes.
Kingsmen were eventually undone by a collapse after Tayyab’s departure, losing seven wickets for 44 runs. Mohammad Suleman made 33 off 95 balls and Salman Ali Agha 25.
OGDCL were 57-3 in 15 overs at stumps, with Saad Khan unbeaten on 19.
