Arshad shines in drawn match

Karachi, Nov 19: Out-of-favour Pakistan Test off-spinner Arshad Khan claimed a match haul of nine wickets as Peshawar took first innings points after the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship encounter against Karachi petered out into a tame draw at the UBL Sports Complex here on Sunday.

Arshad captured all the five Karachi Blues wickets in the second innings to keep a promise he made on Saturday. His performance was quite exceptional since the docile strip here offered scant assistance to the slow bowlers.

Arshad, who claimed five for 85 in 32 overs on Sunday, finished the game with a bag of nine for 202 in 84.3 overs to remind the national selectors that he is still a bowler to be reckoned with.

The Blues were 237 for five when the match was called off after the 10th mandatory over. The highlights of the innings being the batting of Nomanullah (52 off 71 balls with nine fours) and the unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 89 between Iqbal Imam and Maisam Hasnain.

Iqbal Imam scored his second fifty of the match by stroking 55 off 133 balls in 147 minutes with six fours. Maisam contributed 53 off 83 balls in 92 minutes with seven boundaries.

Earlier, 19-year-old slow left-arm bowler Fahim Ahmed took four of the last five wickets to end with a career-best return of six for 127 as Peshawar added just 27 runs to Saturday's tally of 410 for five.