KARACHI: Test paceman Aizaz Cheema took a hat-trick and left-arm seamer Najaf Shah grabbed a 10-wicket haul to pilot PIA to a 113-run victory over Port Qasim Authority (PQA) in third-round President’s Trophy Grade-I National Cricket Championship match at the National Stadium here on Thursday.

PQA, chasing 228, were dismissed for 114 in their second innings on the fourth and day of their fixture with only Shahzaib Hasan (47) offering some fight. Najaf, who claimed 5-63 in the first innings, captured five or 44 to finish with a match haul of 10-107.

But the star for the national carrier was Aizaz who followed his 4-66 in PQA’s first innings with figures of four for 33 and bagged three wickets off successful deliveries. He got rid of Mohammad Sami (14) and Abdur Rauf (0) with the last two balls of his 10th over, Aizaz had last man Mohammad Talha caught behind by Sarfraz Ahmed off the first delivery of his next over to finish the match.

Earlier, PIA added 48 runs to their overnight score of 123-6 with discarded Pakistan pacemen Tanvir Ahmed (4-39) and Talha (4-52) sharing the bulk of wickets.

State Bank survived a close call before pulling off a four-wicket win against United Bank at the UBL Sports Complex to take their total points to 18 with PIA also having collected the same number.

Chasing a modest 102 in 30 overs, State Bank found themselves in real bother at 78-6 before Mohtashim Ali (14) and Mohammad Saad (13) saw them over the line with 11 balls to spare on an excellent surface prepared by UBL’s head curator Wazir Nabi.

United Bank had earlier been bowled out for 218 in their second innings after resuming at 93-3. Abid Ali, who opened the innings, was eventually out for 94 (269 balls, nine boundaries). Slow left-armer Hasan Mahmood took four for 44 while
off-spinner Adnan Rasool had figures of three for 82 to end up a mach bag of eight for 132.

Habib Bank moved to the top of the standings with 24 points from three outings after defeating Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) by nine wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in what had become a three-day fixture following no play on Monday’s
opening day.

ZTBL, who began their second innings 143 runs behind Habib Bank and were 12-1 at start of play on Thursday, were sent packing inside 45 overs for 168. Burly paceman Fahad Masood (4-37), slow left-armer Aslam Qureshi (3-35) and young paceman Ehsan Adil (2-43) shared the bowling honours.

Needing just 26, Habib Bank lost Ahmed Shehzad (5) via a run out before completing their third straight victory in the tournament.

Rearguard action by Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL)’s middle-order pair of Mohammad Rizwan and Yasir Shah denied National Bank their first win of the season at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.

Resuming their second innings at 97-4 after having conceded a 148-run lead to National Bank, SNGPL were heading for defeat 111-6 but wicket-keeper Rizwan (45 off 122 balls, two fours) and leg-spinner Yasir (42 off 102, six boundaries) ate up a fair number of overs as they put on 60 for the seventh wicket. Earlier, Pakistan Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq was dismissed relatively cheaply again as he made 21 to follow his 29 in the first knock.

SNGPL eventually reached 252-9 when they match ended. Upcoming fast bowler Mohammad Imran Khan bowled superbly to take 6-68 for a match bag of nine for 129.

Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) secured three first-innings points after bowling out Wapda for 162 at their rain-hit tie at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Barring 74 from Sohaib Maqsood, no other Wapda batsman managed to contribute big runs to match KRL’s total of 331-9 declared.

Scores and results on Thursday (final day of four):
At National Stadium, Karachi: PIA beat Port Qasim Authority by 113 runs.

PIA 334 in 110.3 overs (Shoaib Khan 67, Sarfraz Ahmed 53, Tahir Khan 51, Anwar Ali 38 not out, Kamran Sajid 35; Mohammad Sami 7-61) and 171 in 62 overs (Shaharyar Ghani 39; Abdur Rauf 4-39, Tanvir Ahmed 4-52); PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 278 in 72.2 overs (Umar Amin 61, Usman Tariq 54, Tanvir Ahmed 35; Najaf Shah 5-63, Aizaz Cheema 4-66) and 114 in 27.1 overs (Shahzaib Hasan 47; Najaf Shah 5-44, Aizaz Cheema 4-33).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: State Bank beat United Bank by four wickets.

UNITED BANK 252 in 98 overs (Mohammad Sami 71 not out, Fahim Qureshi 48; Adnan Rasool 5-50, Rizwan Haider 3-53) and 218 in 94.2 overs (Abid Ali 94, Khaqan Arsal 32; Hasan Mahmood 4-44, Adnan Rasool 3-82, Mohtashim Ali 2-7); STATE BANK 369 in 109.4 overs (Adnan Raees 115, Kashif Siddique 80, Gulraiz Sadaf 36, Hasan Mahmood 32; Akhtar Ayub 3-68, Mohammad Irshad 3-86) and 105-6 in 28.1 overs (Mohammad Sami 2-25, Shabbir Ahmed 2-31).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Habib Bank beat ZTBL by nine wickets.

ZTBL 106 in 39.5 overs (Ehsan Adil 5-41, Kamran Hussain 3-19, Younis Khan 2-10) and 168 in 44.5 overs (Babar Azam 45 not out, Shahid Yousuf 39; Fahad Masood 4-37, Aslam Qureshi 3-35, Ehsan Adil 2-43); HABIB BANK 249 in 64.3 overs (Ahmed Shehzad 55, Imran Farhat 53, Younis Khan 48, Humayun Farhat 30; Saeed Ajmal 6-64) and 28-1 in 6.1 overs.

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: Match drawn.

KRL 331-9 declared in 135.2 overs (Naved Yasin 89, Nayyar Abbas 69, Saeed Anwar Jr 65, Zain Abbas 36; Zulfiqar Babar 6-108, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan 2-97); WAPDA 162 in 83.5 overs (Sohaib Maqsood 74; Rahat Ali 3-36, Yasir Ali 2-23, Saeed Anwar Jr 2-29, Mohammad Irfan 2-31).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: Match drawn.

SNGPL 195 in 55.3 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 43, Umar Akmal 40, Misbah-ul-Haq 29; Uzair-ul-Haq 6-58, Mohammad Imran Khan 3-61) and 252-9 in 118 overs (Umar Akmal 48, Mohammad Rizwan 45, Yasir Shah 42, Azhar Ali 36; Mohammad Imran Khan 6-68, Raza Hasan 2-79); NATIONAL BANK 343 in 97.3 overs (Fawad Alam 93, Sami Aslam 63, Hammad Azam 46, Nasir Jamshed 40, Bilal Munir 35; Yasir Shah 3-31, Imran Ali 3-65, Samiullah Niazi 2-93).