The tenth round of the QEA (Grade-I) Trophy proved to be fruitful for the batsmen, especially the players of international status. A look at the matches played in this round will reveal that as many as 7 centuries, including two double centuries were scored in the six matches of this round. Out of these seven innings, five were played by the batsmen who have made international appearances for Pakistan.

The Test discard from Peshawar, Younis Khan proved to be the main architect of his side's innings victory over Lahore-W at Lahore. He played masterfully to notch 221 in his team's first innings' score of 598. That total proved too good for the fragile Lahore side as they were bundled out for 282 in their first innings and 170 in the second, hence conceding the match by an innings and 146 runs. Aamer Sohail, the ex-Pakistan captain, scored a fighting century (110) in the same match. However, his efforts were just not enough to save his side from the jaws of defeat.

Faisal Iqbal, Karachi-B's middle order batsman and the nephew of the national coach Javed Miandad, scored his highest first class runs in the match against Sargodha. Playing on home ground, Faisal played a marathon innings spanning – deliveries to post exactly 200 against his name. Karachi scored 445 in their first innings in reply to the visitors' 180. Misbah ul Haq (134*) and Haroun Rahim (51*) shared an unbroken partnership of 144 runs for the sixth wicket to save the match for Sargodha.

Imran Farhat, the left-handed opener from Lahore-B hammered a classy 170 off only 160 balls in their first innings against Sheikupura at the latter's ground. He played aggressively against all Sheikhupura bowlers hitting 26 fours and two sixes in the fastest 150-plus innings in the tournament so far. He was batting on 21 in the second innings after conceding a first innings lead of just one run to the opponents when bad weather rendered the continuation of the remaining of the game impossible after three days of absorbing cricket.

At Rawalpindi, Muhammad Wasim stood his ground against all odds to stave off some fiery bowling by Shahid Nazir (an international cricketer himself) of Faisalabad to steer his side to a 94-run victory over the visitors. After failing to deliver in the first innings on a grassy track, Wasim hit back strongly to rescue his team from imminent disaster after being reduced to 77 for six at one stage. Although he missed his century by four runs, yet his efforts were enough to win his team a maximum of 12 points in the match.

At KRL ground in Rawalpindi, Shadab Kabir another Test cricketer, scored a century (105) in Karachi-W's first innings to steer his side to a comprehensive victory against Islamabad. Shadab was ably supported in his efforts by Shahid Arfidi (88) and Hassan Raza (75), both renowned Test players.

All these performances leave the national selectors in quite a dilemma before they select a team for the forthcoming international fixtures. There is still the last round to be played in the QEA Trophy before the final at Faisalabad, implying that these players have another chance to prove their potential to the selectors.

© CricInfo