Date-stamped : 13 Oct97 - 10:10 Day 2 report Afridi slams maiden first-class century By Khalid H. Khan KARACHI, Oct 11: A whirlwind maiden first-class hundred by Pakistan international Shahid Khan Afridi laid the foundation of a strong reply by Karachi Whites against Bahawalpur on the second day of the four-day Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-I National Cricket Championship encounter at National Stadium here on Saturday. Afridi, who smashed the fastest ever One-day International century last year, plundered the Bahawalpur bowling to all parts of the field in a blazing display. He was particularly severe on off-spinner Murtaza Hussain, hitting him for four sixes. After the early loss of Maisam Hasnain, teenaged Test batsman Hasan Raza strode out to the crease before Afridi began treating the bowlers with scant respect. While Hasan was content to build up his innings gradually, Afridi took off in a flash. His first fifty came up in 79 minutes off 40 deliveries with five fours and three sixes. At tea, Karachi Whites were nicely placed at 128 for one with Afridi on 87 and Hasan on 26. Afridi had already surpassed his previous best first-class score of 80 for the Pakistanis against Tasmania at Hobart last year. The 17-year-old swashbuckling right-hander was even more devastating after completing his first fifty and raced to a magnificent century in 117 minutes off only 64 balls with the help of five sixes and a dozen fours. Afridi's second fifty took a mere 24 balls in 38 minutes. Afridi was finally dismissed when he tried to drive Murtaza but only succeeded in getting an edge through to the wicket-keeper. The partnership between Afridi and Hasan realised 153 in just 105 minutes off 21.2 overs. Of the bowlers, Murtaza was the most relieved man for he had conceded as many as 69 runs before taking a wicket with the second ball of his sixth over. Afridi's had been batting for 127 minutes for his belligerent 118 off only 72 balls. 92 of his runs came off boundaries via 14 fours and six gigantic sixes. Hasan looked secured from the moment he came in and was on course for his maiden first-class century, having batted for 168 minutes and faced 136 deliveries for his unbeaten 78, laced with nine fours and a six. The youngster reached his fifty off 86 balls in 129 minutes, hitting six fours and a six in the process. Earlier, Bahawalpur added a further 68 runs to their first day's tally of 334 for five and finally were all out for 402 shortly after lunch. Skipper Aamir Bashir fell for 122 after adding only three more on Saturday in 30 minutes. His overnight partner Rehan Rafiq had to go off the field after being struck by a lifting ball from Jahangir Baksh but returned at the fall of the ninth wicket before being run out. Medium-pacer Baqar Rizvi returned fine figures of five for 86 while the veteran all-rounder Shahid Mahboob claimed two for 61 for Karachi Whites. Day 3 report Hasan Raza scores double hundred By Khalid H. Khan KARACHI, Oct 12: Wonderkid Hasan Raza rewrote cricket history on a record-breaking day as Karachi Whites batted and bowled themselves into a winning position against Bahawalpur on the third day of the four-day Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Grade-I National Cricket Championship match at National Stadium here on Sunday. Hasan, who has the honour of becoming Test cricket's youngest debutante at 14 years and 227 days when played against Zimbabwe last year, became the youngest double-century scorer in all first-class cricket at 15 years and 215 days during a courageous and chanceless display after resuming at 78 not out in the morning. He duly reached his maiden first-class hundred in 239 minutes off 177 balls with the help of 11 fours and a six in the pre-lunch session after Karachi Whites resumed their first innings at 233 for two. Hasan's previous highest at this level of cricket was 96 for Karachi Blues against the side he is representing now last season. Wicket-keeper Iqbal Saleem gave excellent support to the lad in a partnership that realised 164 in 208 minutes off 56.5 overs before Bahawalpur gained the breakthrough when Iqbal was caught behind by Ahsan Raza, who kept after lunch for a while, for 70. He faced 159 deliveries and hit seven fours. But that was the only success for Bahawalpur as Hasan Raza and Farhan Adil then took charge in an unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 192 in only 135 minutes off 32.2 overs. Farhan managed to score a century in the process. This might be some kind of a world record with three batsmen in the same innings hitting maiden first-class hundreds. Shahid Afridi having already blasted the fastest century at this level on Saturday. Hasan nearly retired hurt during the lunch break as an old injury to the index finger on his right hand was causing a lot of discomfort. But persuaded by his teammates, he carried on batting bravely until the declaration came after the tea interval. The slim right-hander crossed 150 in 392 minutes off 284 balls with his 16th four and was on 163 at the tea break and Farhan on 57 (having crossed his previous highest of 50 for Pakistan 'A' in England this summer), having completed 50 in 93 minutes off 78 balls with nine fours, with Karachi Whites already in front at 432 for three. The afternoon session produced 127 runs. Hasan converted his first three-figure first-class innings into an unbeaten 204 when Karachi Whites skipper Ahmer Saeed applied the closure to leave Bahawalpur facing a first innings deficit of 119 runs. His double century came up in 449 minutes off 314 balls and included 23 fours, a five and a six. The previous youngest to hit a first-class double ton was none other than current Pakistan Test batsman Ijaz Ahmed, who was 16 years and 96 days when he scored an unbeaten 201 for PACO against Karachi at National Stadium on Dec 25, 1984 (1984-85 season). At the declaration, Hasan had batted for exactly seven hours and 30 minutes, faced 315 balls and hit 24 fours, a five and a six while Farhan struck 14 fours in his 110-ball century. The entire Karachi Whites innings lasted 472 minutes. Bahawalpur then faced an awkward 40 minutes before stumps were drawn for the day. Under mounting pressure, the visitors lost their opening pair to a hostile burst from Shahid Mahboob to end penultimate day of the match at a shaky 23 for two in their second innings. They still need 96 runs to make the hosts bat for a second time. Source:: Dawn (http://dawn.com/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)