LAHORE, Jan 23: Unbeaten half-centuries by Umar Akmal and Ali Waqas enabled defending champions Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) score a comfortable nine-wicket win against Lahore Shalimar in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship at the LCCA Ground on Friday.

Opener Ali made 50 while Umar hit 58 — his second half-century of the game — as SNGPL made light work of a modest target of 119 in just 26.4 overs to achieve their first victory of the season.

PIA displaced National Bank from top of Group ‘A’ standings with an innings and 18-run victory over SSGC at the Quaid-i-Azam Park in Karachi.

SSGC, who were 209 runs behind on the first innings, were bundled out for 191 in the second innings with Wajid Ali (68 not out) and tailender Haris Ayaz (50) the only batsmen to offer some fight as off-spinner Tahir Khan claimed four for 63.

Upcoming right-handed opener Ahmed Shahzad made a career-best 175 (280 balls) to help Habib Bank draw against Karachi Whites at Karachi’s DHA Stadium.

The bankers appeared to heading for defeat after losing three wickets for 63 runs by stumps on Thursday having already conceded a massive first-innings lead of 322 runs.

But they rallied superbly on Friday to reach 353-6 in their second innings mainly due a fifth-wicket stand of 142 between Ahmed and wicket-keeper/batsman Farhan Iqbal (63 not out). The 17-year-old Ahmed’s second hundred at this level included 28 fours and one six in a stay of six hours and 22 minutes.PIA head Group ‘A’ with 30 points in five matches, followed by National Bank who have 27 in as many games.

Rawalpindi, meanwhile, ended Sialkot’s run of three straight wins by defeating them by 218 runs at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad. Paceman Mohammad Rameez captured five for 63 to finish with match figures of nine for 108 as Sialkot were dismissed for 163 in the second innings.

Despite the defeat, Sialkot lead Group ‘B’ standings with 27 points in four matches with Rawalpindi second with 24 points in five matches.

Scores and results on Friday (final day of four):

Pool ‘A’:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: SNGPL beat Lahore Shalimar by nine wickets.

LAHORE SHALIMAR 207 in 96.5 overs (Mohammad Saeed 59 not out) and 199 in 71.1 overs; SNGPL 288 in 96.1 overs (Umar Akmal 70, Khurram Shahzad 57, Azhar Shafiq 55; Mohammad Naved 5-86) and 120-1 in 26.4 overs (Umar Akmal 58 not out, Ali Waqas 50 not out).

At Sheikhupura Stadium: Match drawn.

WAPDA 199 in 60.5 overs (Azhar Attari 4-47) and 333-8 declared in 98.4 overs (Bilal Khilji 130 not out, Imranullah Aslam 77, Nawaz Sardar 51; Azhar Attari 4-77); ZTBL 242 in 100.3 overs (Afaq Raheem 82, Junaid Nadir 60; Mustafa Iqbal 4-39) and 139-4 in 58 overs (Aamir Bashir 61 not out.

At DHA Stadium, Karachi: Match drawn.

HABIB BANK 176 in 51.2 overs (Ahmed Shahzad 50; Misbah Khan 5-49) and 353-6 in 105 overs (Ahmed

Shahzad 175, Farhan Iqbal 63 not out); KARACHI WHITES 498-8 declared in 159 overs (Asim Kamal 125, Ali Asad 108, Tanvir Ahmed 75).

At Quaid-i-Azam Park, Karachi: PIA beat SSGC by an innings and 18 runs.

SSGC 278 in 106.4 overs (Imran Abbas 90) and 191 in 71.4 overs (Wajid Ali 68 not out; Tahir Khan 4-63); PIA 487-6 declared (Faisal Iqbal 200 not out, Sarfraz Ahmed 82, Fahad Iqbal 75).

Pool ‘B’:

At Gymkhana Club Ground, Okara: Match drawn.

MULTAN 332-9 declared in 102.2 overs (Naved Yasin 92, Majid Majeed 75, Usman Tariq 75; Zahoor Khan 5-100) and 137-3 in 16 overs; FAISALABAD 105 in 32.4 overs (Sajjad Hussain 5-20, Abdur Rauf 4-51) and 400-8 declared in 129.1 overs (Imran Ali 135, Mohammad Salman 67, Ijaz Ahmed Jr 60).

At Lahore Country Club, Muridke: Match drawn.

QUETTA 256 in 100.3 overs (Mohammad Aslam 52) and 214 in 88.3 overs (Mohammad Aslam 60 not out, Ata-ur-Rehman 51; Waqas Ahmed 5-41); LAHORE RAVI 279 in 104.3 overs (Ashraf Ali 51; Nazar Hussain 4-73).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Rawalpindi beat Sialkot by 218 runs.

RAWALPINDI 297 in 83.3 overs (Babar Naeem 79, Naveed Qureshi 74, Fawad Hussain 51; Naved Arif 6-63) and 239-8 declared in 75.4 overs (Awais Zia 86, Naveed Qureshi 58); SIALKOT 155 in 49.3 overs (Haris Sohail 56; Mohammad Rameez 4-45) and 163 in 57.1 overs (Mohammad Rameez 5-63).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad (day three):

HYDERABAD 292 in 93.1 overs (Azeem Ghumman 100; Imran Khan 4-53) and 67-1 in 24 overs; PESHAWAR 360 in 126.3 overs (Adil Amin 93, Mohammad Rizwan 68 not out, Sajjad Ahmed 60, Mahfooz Sabri 52; Lal Kumar 4-60).