Abbottabad, November 4,2026: Mohammad Rizwan struck a commanding unbeaten double century to put Peshawar Blues in a strong position against Faisalabad on the second day of the opening round of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy Gold tournament at Abbottabad Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
The wicketkeeper-batter finished the day unbeaten on 200 off 252 balls, striking 35 fours and one six, as Peshawar declared their first innings at 503 for four in 115.2 overs.
Rizwan’s performance marked his second double century in first-class cricket and came shortly after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) cleared him to resume domestic cricket following a turbulent period in the aftermath of Pakistan’s disappointing Test series in England.
The former Test regular was among seven players sent home after the second Test at Lord’s and remains under investigation by the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) over matters linked to the tour.
Resuming their innings at 306 for three, Peshawar Blues built on their strong overnight position through Rizwan’s outstanding knock.
Overnight centurion Najab Khan added 133 runs, while Mohammad Haris provided further impetus with an unbeaten 70 off just 69 balls, including nine fours and two sixes.
Rizwan’s double century was particularly significant after his difficult outing in England, where he managed just 61 runs in four innings before the squad overhaul and subsequent investigation into alleged dressing-room issues.
In reply, Faisalabad reached 118 for two in 35.2 overs at stumps.
Both openers, Faham-ul-Haq (31) and Sameer Saqib (25), were dismissed leg-before-wicket by Mohammad Adnan.
Asim Ali Nasir, unbeaten on 35, and Atiq-ur-Rehman, unbeaten on 24, will resume their innings on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Babar Azam endured another modest outing, scoring just 28 as Lahore Whites were dismissed for 234 in 49.2 overs against FATA at the Diamond Cricket Ground in Islamabad.
Lahore Whites conceded a first-innings lead of 128 runs after FATA had earlier posted 362.
Debutant Fawad Arshad led FATA’s batting with an impressive 115, while teenage fast bowler Hammad Aziz claimed six wickets for 97 runs for Lahore Whites.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Afaq Afridi claimed three wickets each for FATA, with Afaq dismissing Babar.
At the Shoaib Akhtar Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, Multan recovered from a middle-order collapse to reach 249 for seven in reply to Islamabad’s first-innings total of 215.
Multan had been struggling at 88 for five before Imran Rafiq and Sharoon Siraj led a strong recovery.
Imran remained unbeaten on 93, while Sharoon contributed 82 to put Multan in a promising position.
Musa Khan was the pick of Islamabad’s bowlers, taking three wickets for 31 runs.
At the National Ground in Islamabad, Karachi Blues scored 280 to take a slender first-innings lead of 39 runs over Sialkot Blues.
Mohammad Ghazi Ghori top-scored for Karachi with 88 runs.
In response, Sialkot Blues reached 13 without loss by the close of play, leaving the contest finely poised heading into the third day.
