KARACHI: Captain Amad Butt recorded brilliant bowling figures of 4/51 to help Sialkot dismiss Peshawar for a modest total on the opening day of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (QEAT) final here at the UBL Sports Complex on Thursday .
Put into bat first, Peshawar’s batting unit parried for just 258 runs despite Zubair Khan’s 47-run knock in the middle.
The Sajid Khan-led side made a shaky start to the innings, with Amad and Ali Raza dismantling their top order to reduce them to 70/3.
Coming out to bat at number four, Nabi Gul offered some resistance against Sialkot’s relentless bowling unit with a knock of 44 runs until he fell victim to Shoaib Akhtar Jnr in the second over after lunch.
Middle-order batsmen Mehran Ibrahim and Zubair then formed a cagey 39-run partnership for the fifth wicket, which culminated when Ali cleaned up the first on 31.
Zubair then took the reins of Peshawar’s batting expedition and formed brief partnerships with Abuzar Tariq and captain Sajid before Ali caught him behind in the final session.
The right-handed batsman continued to be Peshawar’s top run-scorer with 47 gutsy shots off 126 deliveries, including six boundaries.
Sajid and Niaz Khan then shared a 25-run partnership for the eighth wicket and added crucial runs to Peshawar’s total.
The stand was completed with Shoaib’s dismissal of Sajid in the 76th after scoring 23 off 26 deliveries.
Peshawar then lost another wicket in the next game when Amad bowled number 10 batsman Mohammad Amir Khan for a four-ball duck.
Niaz, on the other hand, frustrated the Sialkot bowlers with his cameo and pushed Peshawar’s total past the 250-run mark until he fell victim to Amad after scoring 31 runs off the ball with the help of five fours.
Amad Butt led the bowling attack for Sialkot with four wickets, followed by Ali with three, while Shoaib took two. Ahsan Raza Bhatti attacked with a scalp.
In reply, Sialkot scored eight runs without loss in two overs as stumps were drawn.
Azan Awais and Mohammad Huraira, unbeaten on zero and eight respectively, will resume the first innings from Sialkot on day two of the QEAT final.
