Leaders recover after Sindh make early inroads.

Byline: Khalid H. Khan

KARACHI -- First XI leaders Central Punjab needed the experienced Kamran Akmal to bail them out against Sindh on the opening day of their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy clash at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad on Monday.

Elsewhere, Zeeshan Malik struck gold with an undefeated double century as he and captain Umar Amin guided struggling Northern to a commanding total versus Southern Punjab in Sialkot, while Imran Butt and stand-in skipper Imran Farhat also reached three-figures as Balochistan made a strong start against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Quetta.

After Sindh skipper Sarfraz Ahmed took the option of bowling first, Central Punjab were rattled upfront by fast bowlers Tabish Khan and Mir Hamza when they lost three wickets in the space of 17 runs to find themselves in real strife at 38-3. The recently-discarded Pakistan skipper Sarfraz was involved in two of those dismissals.

Tabish sent back Salman Butt (16) and Test captain Azhar Ali (1) before Hamza had Umar Akmal (13) caught by Fawad Alam. However, Ahmed Shehzad, who has taken over the captaincy for the rest of the first-class season, and Usman Salahuddin came together to share a 86-run partnership until Shehzad, who scored 60 off 134 balls (eight boundaries), provided Sarfraz his third catch of the innings by edging Hamza to the wicket-keeper.

Kamran arrived at 124-4 but shortly afterwards lost his partner as Usman (38 off 133 balls) was run out by a direct throw from Hamza. At 165-6 Central Punjab were in danger of not even surpassing 200 but Kamran found a reliable ally in Zafar Gohar (13). The pair added an invaluable 66 but Australia-bound spinner Kashif Bhatti got rid of them in quick successions.

Kamran fell just 10 short of what would have been the ex-Pakistan wicket-keeper's 33rd first-class hundred. Batting with his usual carefree flair, Kamran's 90 came off just 99 deliveries with the help of 13 boundaries and a brace of sixes.

Faheem Ashraf (22) and Ehsan Adil (9) lifted Central Punjab to 263 when stumps were drawn for the day.

For Kashif it turned out be a chastening day as the 33-year-old conceded 98 runs in 31 overs for his wickets, while Hamza (2-46) and Tabish (2-61) were the standout bowlers for Sindh.

Zeeshan, the Chakwal-born right-handed opening batsman, made it count in an emphatic style as the 22-year-old reached three figures for the first time in a brief career. After Umar won the toss against Shan Masood-led Southern Punjab at Sialkot's Jinnah Stadium...

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