KARACHI: Sialkot took another giant step on Thursday towards retaining their first-class status for the upcoming Quaid-i-Azam Trophy when they cantered to a second successive victory in the Inter-region Qualifying Cricket Tournament.

Sialkot’s hapless victims, Multan, succumbed to an innings and 18-run defeat at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad on the penultimate day of the four-day Pool ‘B’ fixture.

Having beaten Bahawalpur by nine wickets in the opening round, Sialkot dismissed Multan for just 148 runs in the latter’s second innings. Waqas Ahmed grabbed five wickets for 27 runs, while paceman Hasan Ali followed up his devastating haul of 7-30 in the first innings with three for 58, giving him match figures of 8-88.

Also enjoying three-day win were Fata, who emulated Sialkot by winning their second match on the trot in Pool ‘A’.

Fata crushed Faisalabad by 10 wickets at the UBL Sports Complex here. Resuming their second innings at a hopeless 91-6, Faisalabad just about managed to avert an innings loss as they were all out for 84.

Left-arm paceman Asif Afridi claimed two more wickets to end up with 6-26 and match figures of 12-89.

Despite centuries from Rameez Raja (148 off 246 balls, 15 fours and one six) and Babar Hussain Agha (140 off 204, 22 boundaries), Karachi Blues fell 13 runs short of overtaking Abbottabad’s massive 403 when they were dismissed for 391 in their first innings at the National Stadium.

Lahore Blues were closing in on a certain win after Bahawalpur slumped to 122-4 while chasing 334 at the NBP Sports Complex.

In the qualifying competition for the departments, Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) outgunned Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) by an innings and 84 runs at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

ZTBL, who are now certain to miss out qualifying for the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy after losing two matches in succession, were bundled out for 121 in their second innings after starting the third day at a precarious 91-6.

ZTBL’s tormentor Mohammad Abbas failed to add to his overnight tally of wickets but the paceman still finished with remarkable match analysis of 11 for 90.

SSGC made a startling recovery to take a vital 112-run lead on the first innings against State Bank at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Resuming at 206-8 in response to State Bank’s 255, SSGC collected 367 with all-rounder Mohammad Irfan scoring 132 (232 balls, 18 fours and one six). Irfan and Akhtar Ayub (20) were involved in a last-wicket partnership of 97.

Boosted by their great comeback, SSGC then reduced the bankers to 121-4 in the second innings with Mohammad Amir taking three wickets.

PIA obtained a much-needed lead by reaching 299 in response to KPT’s 287 at the LCCA Ground. But KPT openers Naeem Javed and Anas Mahmood then put up a grand performance to steer their side to 196 without being separated.

Nadeem was batting on 96 (196 balls, 10 fours) and Anas on 83 (188 balls, eight fours).

Close of play scores and results on Thursday (day three of four):

Inter-department qualifying tournament:

Second round:

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: STATE BANK 255 in 102.4 overs (Usman Salahuddin 77, Faisal Mubashir 68, Sami Aslam 47; Tariq Haroon 4-31, Mohammad Amir 3-70, Akhtar Ayub 2-13) and 121-4 in 36 overs (Israrullah 48 not out, Abid Ali 47; Mohammad Aamir 3-29); SSGC 367 in 116.4 overs (Mohammad Irfan 132, Awais Zia 61, Usman Tariq 46, Tariq Haroon 20, Akhtar Ayub 20 not out; Mohammad Bilawal 4-89, Mohammad Naveed 3-46, Kashif Bhatti 3-111).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: KRL beat ZTBL by an innings and 84 runs.

ZTBL 95 in 34.1 overs (Aaqib Shah 53, Yasir Hameed 29; Mohammad Abbas 5-36, Majid Ali 5-43) and 121 in 52.1 overs (Shahid Yousuf 54; Mohammad Abbas 6-54, Sadaf Hussain 2-21); KRL 300 in 94.3 overs (Abdul Rehman Muzammil 131, Imam-ul-Haq 102, Shoaib Ahmed 20; Zahir Khan 4-62, Sajjad Hussain 4-96, Imran Khan 2-50).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: KPT 287 in 110.2 overs (Faisal Khan 57, Nadeem Javed 48, Ahmed Iqbal 48, Anas Mahmood 42, Shah Ali Zafar 24; Hazrat Shah 5-88, Tahir Khan 2-79) and 185-0 in 64 overs (Nadeem Javed 96 not out, Anas Mahmood 83); PIA 299 in 90.1 overs (Shaharyar Ghani 75, Fahad Iqbal 58, Shahzar Mohammad 50, Salman Saeed 34, Tahir Khan 27; Adeel Malik 3-75, Nabeel Malik 3-79, Shah Ali Zafar 2-5, Mirza Asad Baig 2-18).

Inter-region qualifying tournament:

Second round:

Pool ‘A’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: ABBOTTABAD 403 in 138.2 overs (Khalilullah 138, Nasir Khan 113, Adnan Younis 105; Mirza Ahsan Jamil 6-100, Zohaib Shera 2-73); KARACHI BLUES 391 in 122.2 overs (Rameez Raja 148, Babar Hussain Agha 140, Faraz Ahmed Khan 37, Mohammad Waqas 24; Fazle Rabi 5-63, Safiullah 3-79, Sohail Akhtar 2-37).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Fata beat Faisalabad by 10 runs.

FAISALABAD 185 in 64.1 overs (Waqas Wasif 47, Atif Manzoor 46, Sheroze Raza 30, Ali Rafiq 26; Asif Afridi 6-63, Mohammad Irfan 2-53) and 84 in 43.1 overs (Ali Shan 24, Asif Rafiq 20, Imran Ali 20; Asif Afridi 6-26, Haroon Sadaqat 4-30); FATA 269 in 91.3 overs (Mohammad Sarwar 65, Khushdil Shah 56, Mohammad Naeem 52; Atlas Khan 5-63, Sheroze Raza 3-42) and 8-0 in 2 overs.

Pool ‘B’:

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: LAHORE BLUES 258 in 77.2 overs (Raza Ali Dar 105, Mohammad Ikhlaq 46, Farhan 39, Saad Nasim 26; Imranullah Aslam 5-76, Mohammad Imran 3-39, Kamran Hussain 2-37) and 241 in 76.3 overs (Bilawal Iqbal 60, Farhan 46, Saad Nasim 41, Waqas Saleem 24, Agha Salman 23; Imranullah Aslam 6-59, Muzammil Tahseen 2-53); BAHAWALPUR 166 in 63.3 overs (Kamran Hussain 43, Mohammad Imran 38, Bilawal Iqbal 3-32, Agha Salman 3-64, Haider Ali 2-18) and 122-4 in 61 overs (Adeel Basit 55, Bilal Khilji 33 not out).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: Sialkot beat Multan by an innings and 18 runs.

SIALKOT 335 in 93.4 overs (Atiq-ur-Rehman 95, Ali Raza 91, Ahsan Bhatti 41, Mansoor Amjad 28, Salman Ali 26; Usman Mushtaq 4-73, Umair Arshad 4-94); MULTAN 169 in 59.5 overs (Usman Liaquat 63, Sufyan-ul-Haq 32, Mohammad Asim 31; Hasan Ali 7-30, Waqas Ahmed 2-47) and 148 in 47.3 overs (Aftab Niazi 35, Mohammad Asim 25, Mohammad Irfan 21; Waqas Ahmed 5-27, Hasan Ali 3-58).

Published in Dawn October 2nd, 2015

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