KARACHI – Habib Bank’s bowlers were in complete control of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match against PIA at the National Stadium Karachi on Saturday. The are just two wickets away from giving their batsmen a modest target to chase in order to win the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in Karachi that is unless the PIA tail wags. HBL reduced PIA to 232 for 8 in the second innings, restricting the lead to only 147, and will hope to finish off the tail quickly on the fourth morning.
The third day began with HBL’s tail fighting PIA’s bowlers, adding valuable runs for the last two wickets. They had resumed the innings on 280 for 8, with Fahad Masood on 38. He took charge of the run-scoring and reached his half-century as he made PIA’s bowlers wait longer than expected. Masood struck seven fours in his 66, scoring 28 of the 33 runs added today, before he was lbw to Shoaib Malik. HBL had secured a first-innings lead of 85.
PIA’s second innings began poorly – Masood bowled Anop Santosh cheaply – and thereafter they suffered from a lack of substantial partnerships, even though most of the top and middle-order batsmen got starts. Kamran Sajid held the innings together with a steady 70 but he lost partners regularly as Kamran Hussain and Danish Kaneria worked through the line-up. Hussain and Kaneria picked up three wickets apiece and PIA went from 199 for 4 to 220 for 8. Fahad Iqbal, who ended the day unbeaten on 46, held the responsibility of giving PIA’s bowlers a reasonable target to defend.
