Sindh’s Saud Shakeel stars as Quaid-e-Azam Trophy enters into Sixth round

Karachi: Sindh’s Saud Shakeel has been in red hot form with the bat, becoming the highest-run getter so far in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy with 577 runs.

The 25-year-old has scored two centuries and as many half-centuries from five matches at an average of 64.11. He will once again be one to watch out for as the premium First-Class Tournament rolls into the sixth round tomorrow here at three different venues.

Southern Punjab, the table-toppers, are tied with Northern on 74 points. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan ranked third and fourth, respectively, have 67 points each from five matches.

Sindh is placed fifth with 60 points, while Central Punjab, the title defenders, are the only team without a win in the tournament and are placed at the bottom of the table.

Individual performance

Batting:

Besides Saud, Central Punjab’s Agha Salman is the second run-getter as he has scored 458 runs with two fifties and a century. Southern Punjab’s Hussain Talat is at third with 441 runs while Northern’s Hammad Azam and Mohammad Nawaz are placed at fourth and fifth respectively with 428 and 421 runs.

Bowling:

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Sajid Khan is steady at the top spot of leading wicket-takers. He has claimed 36 wickets with three five-wicket hauls and has taken 10 wickets per match on one occasion. Northern’s skipper Nauman Ali is at second with 35 wickets while Zahid Mehmood of SP has 32 wickets under his belt while Amed Safi Abdullah and Waqas Maqsood are also among the top five highest wicket-takers with 21 and 17 scalps respectively.

Sixth Round’s fixture

Southern Punjab v Northern at UBL Sports Complex

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa v Balochistan at State Bank Stadium:

Central Punjab v Sindh at National Stadium:

Read: Raza Hasan ruled out of QeA Trophy 2020 after breaching COVID-19 protocols