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Hurraira 193*, Amin 79* give Northern first-innings lead

Muhammad Hurraira glances one away PCB

Northern 296 for 2 (Hurraira 193*, Amin 79*, Umar 2-56) lead Sindh 284 (Mehmood 78, Alam 61*, Musa 3-61, Jamal 3-76) by 12 runs

Muhammad Hurraira scored his third hundred in four matches as Northern took command over Sindh in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final on the second day. This one was the most impressive of the lot, with Hurraira unbeaten on 193 off 202 balls by stumps. It meant Northern took a 12-run lead over Sindh, with eight wickets still in the bank. Hurraira's captain, Umar Amin, composed an unbeaten 79 at a more leisurely pace, and by stumps, the unbroken third-wicket stand had stretched to 269.

The day had begun much more auspiciously for Sindh, who added 54 to their overnight score of 230 for 7, thanks to fireworks from No.9 Asif Mehmood and an unbeaten 61 from Fawad Alam. It pushed Sindh's score up from 151 for 7 to 284 before Aamer Jamal dismissed Nos. 10 and 11.

Sindh struck early with the ball twice, a double-strike from Mohammad Umar removing Hasan Raza and Faseeh Rana inside the first ten overs. But that was as good as it would get for Sindh, with Hurraira taking the attack to every bowler, pace and spin alike. Shahnawaz Dahani came in for particular punishment at Hurraira's hands, particularly as the day drew to a close, as did Mohammad Umar, whose last 17 balls Hurraira plundered 33 runs off. Along the way, he had taken over as the highest run-scorer of this edition of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy edition, a feat he managed last year, too.

But the damage had been done through the middle part of the day as Sindh's bowlers were shut out of any realistic wicket-taking opportunities, with the fields pushed out to prevent run-scoring. But Hurraira, and to a lesser extent, Amin ensured that wouldn't be possible, and a day that began so brightly for Sindh had darkened considerably as the players were brought off for bad light half an hour before the close.

Sindh 3rd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st1Khurram ManzoorSaim Ayub
2nd2Saad KhanSaim Ayub
3rd4Saad KhanOmair Yousuf
4th10Danish AzizOmair Yousuf
5th42Fawad AlamDanish Aziz
6th0Fawad AlamMohammad Hasan
7th63Fawad AlamAsif Mehmood
8th62Fawad AlamMohammad Umar
9th36Fawad AlamAaliyan Mehmood
10th34Aaliyan MehmoodShahnawaz Dahani