Spinners Kashif Bhatti and Raza-ul-Hasan led Balochistan to a commanding an innings and five runs victory over Northern in the afternoon session of the penultimate day of their four-day first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy ninth round match at the UBL Sports Complex.

Northern faced a 169-run deficit when they began their second innings on Tuesday and were bowled out for 164 in 45 overs as Kashif and Raza equally shared eight wickets between them.

Kashif, the left-arm orthodox, took four wickets for 67 as he finished the match with match figures of nine for 142. He had recorded a five-wicket haul in the first innings. Raza, who had taken three wickets for 67 in the first innings, returned four for 50.

Sarmad Bhatti registered 31 off 52, the top-score of the innings. With 29 and 27, Umar Amin and Mohammad Nawaz were the next best scorers.

Balochistan, placed at the bottom of the six-team points table before the start of the ongoing round, pocketed 25 points from the contest, which has taken their tally to 102. They stay at the UBL Sports Complex to play Sindh in the last round, which begins from 26 December.

Northern, who entered the match ranked-second, added only three points to their account. In their last group match, they will face Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at the National Stadium in a broadcast fixture.

Sindh’s Saud Shakeel’s third century of the ongoing season set a 370-run target for Southern Punjab at the State Bank Stadium. The 25-year-old left-handed batsman smashed a 123 not out. Over the course of his 157-ball innings, Saud crunched 16 fours.

Captain Asad Shafiq and Saad Ali made notable contributions with 55 and 62, respectively, before Sindh declared their innings on 399 for five. Earlier in the day, Sharjeel Khan registered his 25th half-century as he converted his overnight 45 into 74 before he was dismissed by Aamer Yamin, who took two wickets for 85 from 18 overs.

This was Sharjeel’s fourth 50-plus score – which includes a century against Northern – in the last five innings. Southern Punjab were 61 for one in 19 overs at the close of play with Zain Abbas (28) and Imran Rafiq (26) at the crease. Mir Hamza picked up the only Southern Punjab wicket – Umar Siddiq, who made seven.

At the National Stadium, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s decision to declare at 312 for seven in reply of Central Punjab’s 351 for seven set the match for an exciting final day.

Title defenders Central Punjab were 89 for three and had a second innings lead of 128 following an opening burst by pacers Irfanullah Shah, Sameen Gul and Arshad Iqbal. All three bowlers picked up a wicket each.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Adil Amin and Zohaib Khan scored half-centuries and took their overnight fourth-wicket stand to 130. Adil added 46 more runs before he missed out a century by four runs. The 30-year-old struck 14 fours in his 276-ball 415-minute-long stay. Zohaib recorded his 33rd half-century as he made 75 off 188, which included eight fours.

Table-toppers Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were 255 for three at the completion of 100 over. As such, they gained two batting points, while fourth-ranked Central Punjab bagged one bowling point for dismissing three batsmen.

Seventeen-year-old Pakistan U19 spinner Qasim Akram recorded his maiden five-wicket haul with five for 51 from 19 overs.

On the final morning of the match, Mohammad Saad (46 not out), who had made 78 in the first innings, and Qasim (12 not out) will resume Central Punjab’s innings.

BRIEF SCORES:

At UBL Sports Complex, Balochistan beat Northern by an innings and five runs

Northern 203 all out, 62.1 overs (Ali Sarfraz 38, Nasir Nawaz 31, Mohammad Nawaz 26, Waqas Ahmed 26, Sarmad Bhatti 25, Mubasir Khan 25; Kashif Bhatti 5-75, Raza-ul-Hasan 3-67) and 164 all out, 45 overs (Sarmad Bhatti 31, Umar Amin 29, Mohammad Nawaz 27, Hammad Azam 20; Raza-ul-Hasan 4-50, Kashif Bhatti 4-67)

Balochistan 372 all out, 116.1 overs (Akbar-ur-Rehman 82, Imran Farhat 77, Ayaz Tasawar 69, Ali Rafiq 36, Kashif Bhatti 35; Nauman Ali 6-107, Waqas Ahmed 3-63)

Match points: Northern 3 (one batting, two bowling), Balochistan 25 (16 outright win, one bonus for innings win, three batting, five bowling)

At State Bank Stadium, Southern Punjab elected to bowl (toss uncontested) against Sindh

Sindh 217 all out, 64.4 overs (Mohammad Hasan 111, Saad Ali 79; Aamer Yamin 3-31, Zahid Mahmood 3-49, Zia-ul-Haq 3-63) and 399-5 dec, 85 overs (Saud Shakeel 123 not out, Sharjeel Khan 74, Saad Ali 62, Asad Shafiq 55, Khurram Manzoor 29, Omair Bin Yousuf 28; Aamer Yamin 2-85)

Southern Punjab 247 all out, 81.1 overs (Imran Rafiq 67, Zain Abbas 39, Aamer Yamin 35, Saif Badar 33; Mohammad Asghar 4-81, Shahnawaz Dhani 3-67, Tabish Khan 2-39) and 61-1, 19 overs (Zain Abbas 28 not out, Imran Rafiq 26 not out)

First innings points: Sindh 6 (one batting, five bowling), Southern Punjab 6 (one batting, five bowling)

At National Stadium, Central Punjab elected to bat against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Central Punjab 351-7 dec, 107.5 overs (Saad Nasim 136 not out, Mohammad Saad 78, Usman Salahuddin 53, Ali Shan 43, Qasim Akram 25; Irfanullah Shah 3-53) and 89-3, 27 overs (Mohammad Saad 46 not out, Muhammad Akhlaq 26)

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 312-7 dec, 121.4 overs (Adil Amin 96, Zohaib Khan 75, Fakhar Zaman 42, Israrullah 40, Kamran Ghulam 20; Qasim Akram 5-51)

First innings points: Central Punjab 4 (three batting, one bowling), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 3 (two batting, one bowling).