LAHORE, 26th Oct 2023: Faisalabad lost six wickets in pursuit of the improbable target of 790 as Sarfaraz Ahmed-led Karachi Whites maintained their dominance in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (QeAT) 2023-24 final.
Faisalabad started their innings on day four with openers Taimoor Sultan and M Huraira. Huraira lost his wicket after scoring 5 runs off 14 balls while Taimoor made 31 off 73 before being caught by Sarfaraz Ahmed off the bowling of Noman Ali. Faisalabad wicket-keeper Ali Shan made 24 off 43 while Ali Waqas struck 48 off 73 balls.
M Irfan Khan and Asif Ali were dismissed in single figures, scoring one off two and three off 13 balls, respectively, before being sent to the pavilion. Faheem Ashraf and Ali Ashraf were the unbeaten batters at the stumps with Faheem scoring 15 not out off 29 balls.
Earlier, Asad Shafiq and Sarfaraz Ahmed continued their innings for Karachi Whites, with Asad amassing his 31st first-class century by scoring 100 off 201 balls before the lunch break taking Karachi Whites’ score to 350 runs in 92 overs. Karachi then declared their score at 370 in 98.1 overs at the expense of seven wickets in the second innings.
Sarfaraz Ahmed ended his run at 73 off 112 balls and emerged as the second-highest run-getter of QeAT 2023-24 with a tally of 697 runs in 11 innings while Asad clinched the third position after ending his innings at an impressive 113 off 222 balls, and his tally reading 670 runs in 13 innings. Khurram Shahzad took two wickets for Faisalabad while Faheem Ashraf, M Ali and Arshad Iqbal took a wicket each in the second innings.
Reference Link: https://www.nation.com.pk/26-Oct-2023/karachi-whites-on-brink-of-qeat-2023-24-title-win
