Karachi: The final match of the premier first class tournament, Quaid-e-Azam trophy has entered the last day with both Central Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have a bright hope to win the title.
The defending champions, Central Punjab needed 216 runs to defend the title with eight wickets in hand when curtains were drawn on the fourth day at the national stadium on Monday.
Usman Salahuddin (51) and Mohammad Saad (27) will resume the CP innings from 140/2 on the final day.
Mohammad Akhlaq (48) and Ali Zaryab (10) have gone back to the dressing room. KP’s Arahad Iqbal and Sajid Khan have had a wicket each thus far.
KP set 356-run target for CP to clinch victory.
Earlier Khyber Pakhtunkhwa restarted their second innings from 243-5, in the morning. The overnight centurion Kamran Ghulam perished on 108, after topping four runs to his last day’s score and his overnight partner Khalid Usman went for 53.
Sajid Khan (8), Sameen Gul (5) and Arshad Iqbal (2) were dismissed cheaply and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa finished with 312 in 93.5 overs.
Waqas Masqood was the chief destroyer with four for 77 in 23.5 overs, Bilawal Iqbal picked up two in his 22 overs for 57 runs. Hasan Ali and Qasim Akram bagged one scalp each.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa posted 300 runs in their first innings while Central Punjab, in reply, declared their first turn on 257-9.