KARACHI, Feb 3: An outstanding innings of 133 by discarded Test batsman Basit Ali was the highlight of the opening day of the threeday tour match between Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) and India 'A' at the National Stadium here on Tuesday.
Basit's brilliant knock enabled the KCCA skipper Asif Mujtaba to declare his side's first innings at a healthy 338 for nine. The Indian opening pair of Wasim Jaffer and captain Gagan Khoda safely negotiated 20 minutes to close the day at seven without loss.
Basit, who had been overlooked for top international honours for the past two seasons, was in his serene touch during almost an unblemished stay of 197 minutes and treated the visiting bowlers with scant respect. His driving, especially in the arc between cover and mid-wicket, was breathtaking. The only chance he offered was a very difficult return catch to Debaisish Mohanty.
In fact, until Basit arrived in the middle, the KCCA team was struggling against an Indian bowling line-up who had managed to claw its way back after Pakistan opener Shahid Khan Afridi had blasted a typically swashbuckling half-century in the morning session.
Afridi and the makeshift opener Zafar Iqbal gave KCCA a flying start after Asif Mujtaba had won the toss on what appeared to be an easypaced track.
Afridi, as usual, carved the pace bowlers to all parts of the ground in his flamboyant manner. Medium-pacer Mohanty, the solitary Test player in the touring party, and Nekkanti Madhukar were never allowed to settle into a rhythm by the slim right-hander.
Afridi narrowly cleared the long-on boundary in Madhukar's second over and a couple of moments later produced a remarkable stroke off Mohanty with the ball escaping the sightscreen at the Scoreboard End by a whisker, striking the barbed wire fence on the full at long-on.
Afridi, who had reached his 50 off 41 balls in 67 minutes with two sixes and four fours, appeared well on course for a hundred before lunch when his impetuosity offered Wasim Jaffer a neat catch in the covers. Afridi's faced only 54 deliveries during a stay of 81 minutes, striking in all, seven fours and two sixes.
The Indians struck twice just before the lunch when Hasan Raza, who had looked uncomfortable, failed to keep down a sharp, lifting delivery from slow left-armer Murali Kartik and was caught by Jatin Paranjpe at slip.
Zafar Iqbal, who had been batting sensibly throughout, virtually ran himself out when he dashed out of his crease in a haste. His 73-ball knock in 114 minutes contained six hits to the fence.
KCCA, who had reached 115 for three at the lunch interval, lost Farhan Adil when medium-pacer Ajit Agarkar forced him to play an injudicious stroke. That dismissal brought in Basit Ali to the crease. Even the loss of skipper Asif Mujtaba at 163 failed to deter the dusky 27-year-old right-hander.
With Manzoor Akhtar giving him company, Basit dominated the 73-run stand for the sixth-wicket in 78 minutes off 124 balls to wrest back the initiative.
Khoda, in a vain attempt, tried to curb Basit's stroke-play by adopting defensive field-settings but succeeded partially. The spin trio of Kartik, leg-spinner Sairaj Bahutale and off-spinner Noel David hardly got the ball to turn much. However, Kartik, who bowled the longest, bowled better than his spin colleagues and was the pick of the bowlers.
Basit, having completed his fifty in 79 minutes of 67 balls with seven fours and a six, duly reached his first hundred of the current season with second of the four boundaries in a Kartik over after resuming at his tea score of 63 with KCCA at 241 for six. His 142ball hundred had taken 167 minutes and included 14 fours and a six.
Basit, who had hit six more fours after reaching his century, finally went when Madhukar held him at long-on off David. Mujtaba immediately declared the innings.
Day 2, 4 Feb: Paranjpe leads Indians' run-spree with century
By Khalid H. Khan
KARACHI, Feb 4: A century of quality by Jatin Paranjpe and equally superb batting by skipper Gagan Khoda and Wasim Jaffer enabled the visiting India 'A' to post up an impressive 382 for five on the the second day of the opening tour match against Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) at the National Stadium here on Wednesday.
Taking advantage of a bowling attack lacking in variety, the Indians provided the sparse crowd an exhibition of truly vintage batting display on a pitch which rarely offered any assistance to the KCCA bowlers on a hot and sunny afternoon.
Openers Jaffer and Khoda were extremely unlucky to miss their individual centuries. Having resumed at the overnight score of seven without loss in reply to the KCCA's first innings total of 338 for nine declared, both Jaffer (three) and Khoda (one) quickly got into their stride and never allowed the bowlers to get on top at any stage.
Skipper Asif Mujtaba wrung bowling changes in an attempt to dislodge the right-handed Indian opening pair but lack of genuine fast bowlers and specialist spinners woefully exposed the blunder of the local selectors, who had picked an unbalanced XI for this important international fixture.
This was an ideal platform for the tourists to get into a groove so early on the tour. And as expected, their batsmen made the most of it. Jaffer and Khoda began with a rollicking opening partnership of 180 in 185 minutes in 48.3 overs. They were absolutely sure-footed in their strokeplay, ensuring completely they played according to the coaching manual. One rarely sees so many imperious strokes in a flurry.
Muhammad Javed, who hardly opens the bowling in domestic tournaments, shared the new ball with an almost untried youngster Asim Zaidi. The latter, however, bowled tightly and nearly had Khoda, then on 25, caught at the wicket in his eighth over but umpire Feroz Butt quite correctly turned down that appeal because the ball had only touched the batsman's thigh on its way to wicketkeeper Javed Qadeer.
Khoda was the first to reach his 50 in 95 minutes off 77 balls with eight fours with the total on 76. But Jaffer, who turns 20 on Feb 16, accelerated in the 30-minute period before lunch and completed his 50 in 125 minutes off 92 balls with 10 boundaries, outscoring his captain in the process.
At the lunch break, Jaffer was on 60 and Khoda 59 in an Indian tally of 130 without loss in 35 overs. After the interval, the rate of scoring further picked up as the two openers neared their respective hundreds. Unfortunately, they never quite got there in the end.
The highly-rated Jaffer, who created a world record by scoring 314 not out for Bombay against Saurashtra in only his second appearance at first-class level in last season, was the first to go just 10 short of a thoroughly deserved hundred when he mistimed a straight drive and offered leg-spinner Manzoor Akhtar, bowling around the wicket, a return catch. His 156-ball knock contained 15 fours. Khoda entered the nervous 90s with a tremendous pull off Manzoor that landed over the mid-wicket fence, taking his score to 94. But in the next over, in trying to cut Asim through the region, the 23-year-old Indian skipper nicked a catch to Javed Qadeer. Very crossed at missing his century Khoda flung his bat on the pitch in sheer dejection for playing such an outrageous shot.
Like his opening partner, Khoda had batted superbly throughout. His 161-ball innings lasted 216 minutes and included 12 fours and two sixes off Manzoor Akhtar. By tea interval the Indians had advanced to 252 for two with Paranjpe on 32 and southpaw Abbas Ali on 16.
The left-handed Paranjpe amply made up for the disappointments of his team-mates in a well-controlled innings and completed a splendid hundred with the second of the four successive boundaries in Javed's 13th over that was viciously square cut. Paranjpe, who had reached his 50 in 90 minutes off 76 balls with nine fours, got to the magic figure in 168 minutes off 120 balls with 15 fours and a six over longon off Shahid Afridi's leg-spin.
The 25-year-old Paranjpe looked hungry for more runs until he underestimated substitute Kashif Ahmed's sharp throw from short thirdman, who scored a direct hit at the batting end. He batted for only 182 minutes and struck 18 fours and a six in his 131-ball knock and shared useful partnerships with Abbas Ali and wicketkeeper M.S.K. Prasad.
Tomorrow is a rest day in this three-day encounter.