Cricket news - Imran Farhat, Akbar-ur-Rehman tons deflate Sindh

Balochistan vs Sindh

Imran Farhat and Akbar-ur-Rehman scored unbeaten centuries and put on an undefeated 263-run partnership as Balochistan overcame a horror start on the opening day of their fixture against Sindh to claim the early upper hand in this 10th round Quaid-e-Azam fixture. By stumps, Balochistan they'd reached reached 271/2 setting an early marker that Sindh's winless season will, in all probability, remain so.

It had begun so differently for Sindh, though, after Balochistan tripped on their own decision to bat first, losing both Imran Butt and Azeem Ghuman with just eight runs on the board. Captain Imran Farhat used all his experience to negotiate the early spell from Sindh's four-man pace attack and capitalised as the afternoon wore on.

Both Farhat and Akbar went after Mohsin, taking 55 from his nine overs. Farhat completed his 37th first class century from 163 balls while Akbar got to his milestone off 221 deliveries. The 200 off the partnership was brought up off 320 balls an hour before Stumps with a promise of it extending further on the second day

Brief Scores: Balochistan 271/2 (Imran Farhat 137*, Akbar-ur-Rehman 121*) vs Sindh

Central Punjab vs Southern Punjab

Debutant Abdullah Shafiq and Ahmed Shehzad continued the trend of strong batting performances on the opening day of the final round of QEA fixtures, their centuries allowing Central Punjab plunder 339/4 in 91 overs of play against Southern Punjab.

The table toppers were dealt an early blow after winning the toss when Zia Ul Haq trapped Salman Butt. However captain Ahmed Shehzad joined forces with the newcomer Shafiq laying the foundation for what would be a 179-run stand for the second wicket. Shehzad's 13th first class century brought him exactly 100 runs before he fell to Rahat Ali.

Off the very next ball, Rahat sent Umar Akmal packing with a duck. Shafiq, however, consolidated the innings and in the company of Usman Salahuddin, completed his maiden first class century. Shafiq fell for 133 but Kamran Akmal and Salahuddin added another unbeaten half-century stand to push Central Punjab's total ahead.

Brief scores: Central Punjab 339/4 (Abdullah Shafiq 133, Ahmed Shehzad 100; Rahat Ali 2-65) vs Southern Punjab

Northern vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Hammad Azam and Sarmad Bhatti were two of five Northern batsmen to score half-centuries as Northern buried Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under a mountain of runs on the opening day of their crucial fixture in Karachi. Northern need a win to secure a final berth (KP can go through on a draw) and their desperation showed in the run-rate maintained through the day's play.

This greater cause for the team perhaps cost individual centuries or two with Hammad Azam (76), Faizan Riaz (63), Zeeshan Malik (61) and Ali Sarfaraz (50) all falling soon after getting to a half-century. Bhatti, unbeaten at Stumps on 70*, will able to address this anomaly on Day 2 as Northern look to push the match forward with more quick runs inorder to give themselves enough time to bowl their opponents twice.

Brief scores: Northern 341/5 (Hammad Azam 76, Sarmad Bhatti 70*; Sajid Khan 3-100) vs Khyber Pakhtunkhwa