A dazzling century by Shahid Afridi laid the foundation of a healthyKarachi Whites score on a fluctuating opening day of the Quaid-i-AzamTrophy Grade-I final against Lahore Blues at the National Stadium inKarachi on Saturday

Khalid H. Khan21-Jan-2001A dazzling century by Shahid Afridi laid the foundation of a healthyKarachi Whites score on a fluctuating opening day of the Quaid-i-AzamTrophy Grade-I final against Lahore Blues at the National Stadium inKarachi on Saturday.Afridi, stroking the ball in his inimitable style, hammered asparkling 102 off 107 deliveries with 10 fours and one six in justover three hours.Then a mini middle-order collapse saw Karachi Whites crashing to 190for six shortly after tea, before an unfinished crucial 96-run standbetween Aamir Hanif (43) and Mohammad Masroor (57) lifted the score to286 by stumps.It was an excellent comeback by Karachi Whites on a pitch that issomewhat inconsistent in bounce.Lahore Blues skipper Shahid Anwar, as expected, elected to put inKarachi Whites once he had called correctly at the toss. But theadvantage of bowling first was wasted as Wasim Akram and Abdur Razzaqsprayed the new ball all over the place.Just two wickets fell in the first hour. The left-handed Shadab Kabirwas caught behind off Razzaq for a duck in the fourth over.Then Zeeshan Pervez (19), who was shaping well, hit three crispboundaries including two off Akram. However, he was undone by a shortAkram delivery that rose awkwardly to hit the outside edge of the batand balooned into the slips.Afridi, meanwhile, continued to score freely and it was chieflybecause of him that Karachi Whites took lunch at 118 for two.Skipper Asif Mujtaba provided Afridi the kind of support that wasneeded. The pair together put the highest partnership of the day – 137for third wicket.Such was Afridi’s dominance that at one stage Akram was forced to bowlwith a solitary slip. Displaying a wide repertoire of strokes, Afriditreated the bowling with scant respect. He lofted medium-pacer WaqasAhmed off the front foot over mid-wicket fence for an effortless six.Afridi then became one of Abdur Razzaq’s three victims in 27deliveries when a rush of blood brought his downfall. Hasan Razalasted only four deliveries before he mistimed a pull and edged aneasy catch to wicket-keeper Humayun FarhatMujtaba, who batted for 186 minutes for a 149-ball 39, was caught byShahid Anwar at second slip when the ball rebounded off first slipAkram’s body.Moin Khan, the Pakistan captain, had a brief stay in the middle. Hemade seven before he nibbled at Akram and provided Humayun his fourthvictim of the innings.Aamir Hanif looked shaky at the start of his innings but graduallysettled down to make a vital contribution. Masroor, a diminutiveright-hander, in contrast struck some delightful pulls and hooks.It was a brave effort from Masroor for he was hit on the box by asharp inswinger from Akram. Recovering his composure after a sevenminute hold up in play, Masroor reached a fine 50 off 62 balls withhis eighth boundary.