KARACHI: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) showed why they are the President’s Cup champions when they held their nerves on Saturday to end Khan Research Laboratories (KRL)’s unbeaten sequence in the ongoing event with a thrilling three-run win in Faisalabad.

A whirlwind century from discarded Pakistan limited-overs opener Shahzaib Hasan fired Port Qasim Authority (PQA) to a clinical nine-wicket rout of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP here at the National Stadium.

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) kept final aspirants alive with an 88-run defeat of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad, while usual domestic powerhouses Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suffered embarrassing losses at the hands of Pakistan Television (PTV) and United Bank Limited (UBL), respectively.

KRL, who had a run of seven victories and one no-result coming into this fixture, elected to bowl first at the Iqbal Stadium. Skipper Saeed Anwar Jr’s decision seemed to have worked as SNGPL mustered 199-9 in their 45 overs.

Umar Akmal struck 47 from 42 balls with three fours and one six, wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan hit an unbeaten 47 (54 balls, three boundaries) while adding 79 for the seventh wicket with Saleem Mughal (44 off 73 balls, four fours).

KRL’s top-order batting was dismantled by seamers Asad Ali (3-46) and Imran Ali (3-32) with half the team back in the pavilion for 21. But Saeed and Ali Khan added 105 for the sixth wicket to revive their team’s hopes.

Ali hit up three fours and two fours in making 54 from 78 deliveries. The left-handed Saeed scored 103 not out (117 balls, eight fours and four sixes) but despite his heroics, KRL finished at 196-8.

SNGPL’s second win leaves them just two points behind KRL who have 15 with both having left just one game apiece.

NBP made ZTBL rue their option of bowling by piling up 283-8. Fawad Alam led the onslaught with a 101-ball knock of 94 (11 fours and one six). The left-handed put on 80 for the fourth wicket with Mohammad Nawaz (41 off 56 balls, three fours) and 110 for the fifth with Umar Waheed (51 off 40, four fours and one six).

Sohaib Maqsood failed on his NBP debut when the talented Pakistan right-hander was caught by Yasir Hameed off occasional seamer Luqman Butt for four.

ZTBL, in reply, were dismissed for 195 in the 44th over with their skipper Abdul Razzaq, the out-of-favour Pakistan all-rounder, striking five boundaries and one six in a 75-ball innings of 57.

NBP’s fifth win means they remain third with 11 points, whilw ZTBL have moved down to fifth wicket with eight.

PQA jumped into fourth spot (nine points) by demolishing SBP after Khalid Latif preferred to bowl first upon winning the toss.

Former Test fast bowler Sohail Khan produced a fine exhibition with four wickets in his opening spell before returning later to take another, giving him excellent analysis of five for 20 in seven overs as SBP were sent packing inside 38 overs for 147 runs.

Shahzaib then stole the show as PQA raced to victory in 12.2 overs. The tall right-hander bludgeoned 112 off mere 44 balls after completed his fourth List A century in 40 balls. He was particularly severe on paceman Tabish Khan and slow left-armer Hasan Mahmood.

In one Tabish over, Shahzaib blasted 26 runs, which included a sequence of 6,6,4,4,4. Hasan was taken part with three huge sixes after Pakistan batsman Umar Amin has scored nine from the first three deliveries.

Shahzaib’s blazing display saw him hammer 11 fours and 10 sixes — 104 runs being scored in boundaries.

Khalid (14) was the only casualty in an opening stand of 48 before Umar (16 oof 19) helped Shahzaib add 102 for the unbroken second wicket as PQA got home with no less than 196 balls left unused.

Tabish’s three overs cost 51 runs and Hasan gave away 45.

PIA’s 124 in 39.5 overs after being asked to bat first at the Southend Club Stadium was never going to hurt UBL who completed the job in the 31st over.

PTV restricted HBL to 165 all out at the Gaddafi Stadium before celebrating only their second win by reaching their target with 24 balls to spare.

Saturday’s results:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Port Qasim Authority beat State Bank of Pakistan by nine wickets.

State Bank of Pakistan 147 in 37.3 overs (Gulraiz Sadaf 40, Raheel Majeed 25; Sohail Khan 5-20, Tabish Nawab 2-35); Port Qasim Authority 150-1 in 12.2 overs (Shahzaib Hasan 112 not out).

At Southend Club Stadium, Karachi: United Bank Limited beat Pakistan International Airlines by seven wickets.

Pakistan International Airlines 124 in 39.5 overs (Shaharyar Ghani 59, Anwar Ali 24; Mohammad Rameez 3-15, Adil Raza 2-20, Atif Maqbool 2-25); United Bank Limited 125-3 in 30.4 overs (Saeed bin Nasir 44 not out, Ahsan Ali 39, Saad Surkhail 27).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited beat Khan Research Laboratories by three runs.

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited 199-9 in 45 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 47 not out, Umar Akmal 47, Saleem Mughal 44; Nauman Ali 3-25, Yasir Ali 3-39, Saeed Anwar Jr 2-30); Khan Research Laboratories 196-8 in 45 overs (Saeed Anwar Jr 103 not out, Ali Khan 54; Imran Ali 3-32, Asad Ali 3-46).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Pakistan Television beat Habib Bank Limited by seven wickets.

Habib Bank Limited 165 in 40 overs (Hasan Raza 43, Bilal Shafayat 27; Samiullah 3-27, Zohaib Ahmed 3-42, Mohammad Ali Bhutta 2-25); Pakistan Television 167-3 in 41 overs (Mohammad Naeem 49, Fahad-ul-Haq 40 not out, Mohammad Adnan 34, Nawaz Ahmed 31 not out).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: National Bank of Pakistan beat Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited by 88 runs.

National Bank of Pakistan 283-8 in 45 overs (Fawad Alam 94, Umar Waheed 51, Mohammad Nawaz 41; Zohaib Khan 2-17, Luqman Butt 2-32, Junaid Zia 2-45); Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited 195 in 43.4 overs (Abdul Razzaq 57, Shakeel Ansar 39, Sharjeel Khan 30; Wahab Riaz 3-32, Ahmed Jamal 3-47, Hammad Azam 2-19).