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The state of the UBL Sports Complex pitch was the talking point after spinners wrought havoc on the opening day of the four-day Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Grade-I Cricket Championship between Karachi Whites and Faisalabad here on Sunday.

No less than 15 wickets tumbled on a crumbling, dry surface that is expectedd to deteriorate further by the hour with the cracks likely to widen up. It will take a miracle for this match to last more than seven sessions out of the maximum 12.

The groundstaff, in this case, has not done its homework as regards to preparation of pitches. The Pakistan Cricket Board allotted UBL Sports Complex eight matches of the prestigious first-class competition sometime ago and yet, the pitch square has not been prepared accordingly to provide decent strips.

Faisalabad, who elected to bat first after skipper Mohammad Ramzan had won the toss, were dismissed on the stroke of tea for 212 in 72.1 overs.

But Karachi Whites then ran into deep trouble against off-spinner Aqeel Ahmed to close the day on 65 for five in 22 overs.

Spin trio of Danish Kaneria, Adnan Malik and Tahir Khan shared eight wickets between them as the Faisalabad batsmen struggled to cope with deliveries that spun and bounced viciously.

Wasim Haider, a member of the triumphant Pakistan squad in the 1992 World Cup, made a gallant 51 after Faisalabad lost six wickets for 119.

Wasim, who stroked five fours in his 99-ball knock in 99 minutes, was involved in a vital seventh-wicket partnership of 56 in 55 minutes with all-rounder Saadat Gul (23) before he was given out by Test umpire Nazir Junior. The ball from off-spinner Tahir Khan may have come off the pad only when it ballooned to Mohammad Masroor at short-leg.

Test rejects Ijaz Ahmed Junior, who made 45 off 70 balls with eight fours in an hour, and Ramzan were the other major scorers. Ramzan was lucky to survive a chance on zero but he went on to hit eight boundaries in making 40 off 73 balls in 104 minutes.

Leg-spinner Kaneria finished with four for 83 in 30 overs while Adnan Malik, the slow left-armer, claimed three for 47.

It was then Aqeel's turn to mesmerise the Karachi batsmen after Khalid Latif made an inauspicious start to his first-class career. The opener, who was 14 years and 360 days old on Sunday, was adjudged LBW by umpire Zamir Haider after he had steered the previous ball from medium-pacer Saadat Gul down to third man for two runs.

Aqeel is another bowler who has modelled his action on the Sri Lankan spin maestro Muttiah Muralitharan. But his delivery stride may raise quite a few eyebrows because he seems to bend his arm at the point of delivery.

Two of Aqeel's four victims were somewhat unlucky to be adjudged by umpire Zamir Haider. Shadab Kabir looked crestfallen when he was held at short-leg with the bat well away from the ball. Masroor was given out caught behind after the ball had only brushed his thigh pad rather than his bat.

© Dawn