LAHORE-Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s woes amplified on the third day of their four-day first-class match against Balochistan at the Multan Cricket Stadium as Yasir Shah’s 34th five-wicket haul forced them to follow-on in the ongoing sixth round of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2022-23.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were bundled for 215 in reply of Balochistan’s imposing 487 for seven as the Test leg-spinner returned five for 57 in 18.1 overs. Only three Khyber Pakhtunkhwa batters scored above 20 with Sajid Khan and Sahibzada Farhan scoring half-centuries – 68 off 116 and 62 off 117, respectively – and opener Waqar Ahmed making 24 off 33.
Yasir added two more wickets to his tally before the end of day’s play as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lost three wickets for 137. Yasir sent Waqar Ahmed (36) and Maaz Sadaqat (0) back to the pavilion. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa need another 135 runs to avoid an innings defeat. Kamran Ghulam (38 off 53) and Rehan Afridi (23 off 31) will resume the innings on the final day today.
Despite a fighting century by wicketkeeper Rohail Nazir, Northern face the possibility of being asked to follow-on by Southern Punjab as they were still 33 runs away with only one wicket in hand. Saad Khan’s brilliant unbeaten century helped Sindh turnaround their contest against Central Punjab at the Pindi Cricket Stadium as they were 300 for four at stumps after starting the day with a trail of 116. In what was his fourth first-class century and first of the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Saad made 139 not out off 222 balls, hitting 23 fours and a six.

Scores in brief

BALOCHISTAN 487-7d, 142.3 overs (Hussain Talat 112, Haseebullah 100*, Asad Shafiq 88; Sajid Khan 3-155) vs KP 215 all out, 64.1 overs (Sajid Khan 68, Sahibzada Farhan 62; Yasir Shah 5-54, Akif Javed 3-59) AND 137-3, 35 overs (K Ghulam 38*; Yasir Shah 2-37). 
SOUTHERN PUNJAB 566-7d, 122 overs (Usman Salahuddin 126, Umar Siddiq 117, Salman Ali Agha 103*; Kashif Ali 2-110, Athar Mehmood 2-158) vs NORTHERN 334-9, 102.4 overs (Rohail Nazir 100*; M Abbas 5-85, Sameen Gul 3-56). 
SINDH 188 all out, 56 overs (Saad Khan 29; Aamer Yamin 5-54) AND 300-4, 77.3 overs (Saad Khan 139*, Fawad Alam 84) vs CENTRAL PUNJAB 305 all out, 95.5 overs (Aamer Yamin 63, Ali Shan 55*; Abrar Ahmed 4-82, M Umar 3-63).