Date-stamped : 17 Nov97 - 14:23
Day 3 report from Dawn

Malik reminds selectors with superb 97

By Our Sports Reporter

KARACHI, Nov 16: Former Pakistan Test captain Salim Malik sent
yet another reminder to the national selectors with a superb
knock of 97 as Habib Bank set PIA a daunting target of 348 to
win on the third day of the four-day Patron's Trophy Grade-I
Cricket Championship match at UBL Sports Complex here on Sunday.

PIA will begin the final needing another 322 for victory in 83
overs with all their wickets intact after openers
Rizwan-uz-Zaman and Ghulam Ali had safely negotiated the new
ball before bad light forced them to come off with 7.2 overs of
the nine bowled.

But the day belonged to the stylish 34-year-old Salim Malik
after his side had gained a 95-run first innings advantage over
PIA. The Habib Bank skipper simply toyed with the bowling and
narrowly failed by three runs to reach his 42nd first-class
hundred. Malik batted with his usual fluency during a 135-minute
stay and struck 14 fours. However, Malik, who faced only 85
balls, was helped by unimaginative captaincy by his PIA
counterpart and unrelated namesake Aamir Malik. Instead of
employing run-saving field, Aamir did the opposite to allow
Habib Bank to gather runs rapidly for an early declaration.

Mujahid Jamshed also played nicely for a 72-ball 58 with five
fours. Part-timer Shakeel Ahmed was forced to don the gloves
after regular wicket-keeper Tahir Rasheed badly bruised little
finger of his left hand on Saturday evening and is a doubtful
starter for the next match.

Source::  Dawn (http://dawn.com/)

<END> Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)