Karachi: On the first day of the final round of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy Central Punjab, Southern Punjab and Northern began their strive for the slot in the final as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have already qualified for the finale.
In the televised encounter at the National stadium, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chose to bat first against Northern and finished the day at 380-4. Israrullah (127) and Rehan Afridi (127). Sahibzada Farhan (62) and Adil Amin (8) were the other dismissed batsmen. Kamran Ghulam is batting on 53.
Sadaf Hussain, Waqas Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz and Mubassir Khan bagged a wicket each.
At the State Bank Stadium, Central Punjab registered 309-4 against Southern Punjab by the end of day-one courtesy a fine unbeaten century by Usman Salauddin who has so far amassed 139 runs. The other not-out batsman, Qasim Akram has scored 12 runs.
Akhlaq (zero), Ali Zaryab (78), Mohammad Saad (1) and Saad Nasim (72) have also been dismissed.
Zahid Mehmood had two while Salman Ali Agha and Amir Yamin claimed a wicket each.
Meanwhile, Balochistan, at the UBL Sports Complex, accumulated 314-5 against Sindh after choosing to bat first. Akbar-ur-Rehman is still batting on 125 while Kashif Bhatti (5) is the other not-out batsman.
Ali Rafiq (16), Imran Farhat (42), Ali Waqas (9), Ayaz Tasawwur (72) and Bismillah Khan (42) have been sent back to the pavilion.
Tabish Khan claimed two while Shahnawaz Dhani, Abrar Ahmed and Mohammad Asghar have picked up one wicket apiece.