Quaid-e-Azam Trophy: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Central Punjab by 211 runs

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa handed Central Punjab their first defeat of the season as they recorded a 211-run win in the ninth round of the four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy fixture at NBP Stadium.

Central Punjab, chasing 325, were bowled out for 113 in the afternoon session on the last day of the match. Mohammad Saad and Umar Akmal, who resumed their innings on the overnight scores of one and 0, showed resistance in the earlier part of the morning session, adding 45 runs for the fifth-wicket. But, Central Punjab began losing wickets, one after another, after drinks and were 89 for seven at lunch. Umar top scored with 43 from 76 balls, hitting seven fours, while Saad made 12 from 50 balls.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa dismissed the remaining three wickets in the earlier half of the second session with leg-spinner Mohammad Mohsin doing most of the damage with three for 34. Middle-order batsman Usman Salahuddin was not out on 29 from 118 balls. He hit two fours and a six. That Central Punjab found themselves in a precarious situation at the start of the day's play was due to Usman Shinwari's fiery spell yesterday in which he took three wickets for two runs in 2.2 overs. This is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's second consecutive win in the tournament.

Scores in brief:

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 355 all-out, 123.3 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 96, Khalid Usman 72 not out, Mohammad Moshin 56, Israrullah 51, Ashfaq Ahmed 29; Zafar Gohar 4-143, Bilal Asif 3-98, Usman Qadir 2-60) and 197-7d, 54 overs (Israrullah 40, Sahibzada Farhan 36, Zohaib Khan 31 not out, Khalid Usman 21 not out, Fakhar Zaman 21; Zafar Gohar 4-82).

Central Punjab 228 all-out, 84.1 overs (Mohammad Saad 49, Kamran Akmal 39, Umar Akmal 34, Usman Qadir 32 not out; Khalid Usman 4-67, Sajid Khan 3-55, Mohammad Mohsin 2-57) and 113 all-out, 59.5 overs (Umar Akmal 43, Usman Salahuddin 29; Usman Shinwari 3-20, Mohammad Mohsin 3-34, Sajid Khan 2-15).