For the first time in the history of Pakistan’s domestic Cricket, the domestic season is being played without a single departmental team. The talk of the town for quite a while had been the conflict between regions and departments and, despite a massive, country-wide uproar, the region-based system was adopted. The newly structured Quaid e Azam Trophy, comprising of six regional teams, is now well and truly underway.
The first round was dominated by luscious batting performances and such was the imbalance between the willow and the ball that all three games of the opening round concluded as draws. The three four-day fixtures witnessed batsmen piling heaps of runs. The clash between Balochistan and Sindh saw the promising Abid Ali notching up a special double-hundred with his opening partner, Khurram Manzoor, also reaching three figures. The former remained not out and got to his career-best individual score of 249*.
Sindh were greeted with staunch resistance from the Balochistan batting line-up. Imam-ul-Haq, who is now a regular in the national squads, made 152 and along with Khurram Shehzad’s fighting knock down the order, he took his team to 355 at the end of the fourth and final day.
Southern Punjab and Central Punjab faced off in the Punjab Derby at the Gaddafi Stadium. Sami Aslam’s stunning double hundred took Southern Punjab to a mammoth total of 467. Adnan Akmal, the sibling of the Akmal brothers, also got into the act with triple figures. In reply, the Babar Azam-led Central Punjab proved to be equally good. Through a series of half-centuries from their top and middle orders, they posted 473 on the board.
Northern also accomplished a drawn match against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa courtesy of two sizzling tons from Asif Ali and Mohammad Nawaz. Earlier in the game, KP commenced their charge via a steady hundred from their skipper, Mohammad Rizwan. Northern were skittled for 262 in reply with first-class debutant Haider Ali top-scoring with 99. Following on and with a heavy defeat looming over, Asif Ali and Mohammad Nawaz took the reigns and cruised their team out of the abyss.
At the conclusion of the first round, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa topped the charts after securing bonus points as a result of amassing a total in excess of 400 and bowling out the opposition briskly. Balochistan, conversely, were placed at the rear end of the points table.
Fast-forwarding to the 2nd round of Pakistan’s premier domestic-Cricket competition, Central Punjab emerged out as the only team to secure a victory in the whole round after overhauling Northern by an innings and 100 runs.
The decks roughened over the course of the matches and the spinners scattered across the competition found a rough patch or two to work with throughout the game. In general, however, batsmen continued to supreme reign as stacks of runs heaped up.
Northern were handed a solid drubbing in their away fixture as the Azhar Ali-led side trampled over them. The newly-appointed skipper of Pakistan’s Test team, Azhar led from the front in his side’s clinical show. Together with the evergreen Kamran Akmal, he strung a hefty partnership of 235 runs and rescued his team from a rather alarming situation.
Northern were bundled over for a marginal 114 runs in their first innings and couldn’t reap the rewards after doing the hard yards in the 2nd innings either. All credit to the spin twins of Central Punjab, Bilal Asif and Zafar Gohar, who ran through the opposition’s batting line up.
In Balochistan’s home outing against Southern Punjab at the Bugti Stadium in Quetta, they racked up a gargantuan total of 500-9 in the first innings. In reply, Southern Punjab were left reeling at 308 and with a deficit nearing 200 runs, they were asked to bat again.
The visitors were in a bit of bother when they lost 5 wickets with a lead of only 6 runs on the board. However, Adnan Akmal and Aamer Yamin came to the rescue act on the final day of the game, courtesy of some counter-attacking Cricket.
Sindh’s home fixture against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was consistently disrupted by showers on consecutive days. Batting first, the home side notched up 476 runs with Fawad Alam bringing up yet another special ton, his 31st of his first-class career.
KPK responded firmly, moving past 355 at the back of promising centuries from Ashfaq Ahmed and Zohaib Khan. They've shaken hands in Karachi, which isn't a massive surprise. That game was nowhere close to a result, and with only an hour left, there wasn't too much to play for.
The drawn games meant that Central Punjab secured the top position in the table, moving into Round Three of this year’s Quaid e Azam Trophy.
