On a day when the fate of Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar was to be decided by the Pakistan selectors, both brought up their finest effort in a long time.

[Read about Shoaib here].

Sindh were looking down the barrel after being shot out for 126 on the opening day of their Pentangular Cup match against Baluchistan.

Abdur Rauf, Kamran Hussain, and Azharullah had combined to destory the famed Sindh batting line up in only 44 overs.

Baluchistan then batted for the a day and a half to post 362 in their first innings.

Afridi along with Sohail Khan picked up 4 wickets each to restrict Baluchistan's lead. Afridi's 4-113 included thekey wicket of Misbah, who is leading the Baluchi side in this competition.

Sindh resumed their 2nd innings on 24-0 this morning and ended the day on 364-8.

Afridi, who had been among the wickets yesterday, top scored for his team with a fine 81 of 75 deliveries that included 10 hits to th fence and 2 over it.

It was a subdued innings according to Afridi's standards but one that as needed more than ever - not only for him but also for Sindh.

Afridi was well supported by Khalid Latif (78), Fawad Alam (68), and Sarfraz Ahmed (57).

The match will resume tomorrow with Sindh 128 runs ahead with only 2 wickets in hand.

(Scorecard)

Afridi along with Sohail Khan and Anwar Ali will have to rise and put in their best effort to avoid an embarassing loss to Baluchistan.

(Sindh are the defending champions, while Baluchistan have never won a match in a Pentangular Cup).