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A strokeful and chanceless century by Imran Javed put Karachi Whites in the drivers seat against Faisalabad at stumps on the second day of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy match at the National Stadium Wednesday.

The fast-improving 21-year-old Imran finished unbeaten at 112 as the home team recovered from a precarious 135 for five to 311 for six. They lead Faisalabad by 88 runs with two days and four wickets to spare.

Imran added 134 runs for the fifth wicket in as many minutes with Shadab Kabir who battled flu to contributed 48 at No 6 before being declared caught behind. Shadab's walk to the dressing room suggested he might have been a bit unlucky.

Faisalabad paceman Moazzam Ali caused the maximum damage when he finished with four wickets for 95 runs from 23 overs, including three wickets in 38 balls in a post-lunch spell. But the hero of the day was Imran Javed who is rapidly blossoming into a fine stroke-maker.

The youngster has fully capitalized from his excellent form as he has amassed runs 456 (67*, 78*, 125*, 0, 41, 18, 15, 112*) in the ongoing tournament. He averages 114.

Imran's commitment and concentration can be judged from the fact that he has faced 160 balls during his 205 minutes innings while 82 of his runs have come from 19 boundaries and a six.

Experienced Ghulam Ali was the other notable Karachi batsman while scoring a typical attractive 54 that included nine punishing boundaries. Fortunate to have been caught off a no-ball and then dropped when 24, Ghulam Ali added 82 for the second wicket with Saeed bin Nasir (38) who also benefited from a dropped catch by Aqeel Khan off his own bowling.

If three Karachi players were down with flu, three Faisalabad boys were injured. But the injury to Aqeel while attempting to catch Saeed proved costly as he failed to take the field after bowling 28 deliveries.

© Dawn