KARACHI: Pakistan Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq on Thursday faced the humiliation of bagging a ‘pair’ on his first appearance in the President’s Trophy Grade-I National Cricket Championship as Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) put themselves in sight of victory against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in Faisalabad.

The 38-year-old right-handed veteran of 36 Tests, playing his 174th first-class game and his first since the Pallekele Test against Sri Lanka in July, followed his first-ball dismissal in the first innings by a sixth ball duck when left-arm seamer Rahat Ali bowled him before Misbah, who is also the SNGPL skipper, declared his team’s second innings at 195-4 on the penultimate day of the four-day fixture at the Iqbal Stadium.

In sharp contrast to Misbah’s miseries, Pakistan Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez top-scored for the second time in this match. Following his 58 in the first innings, Hafeez struck a superb 95 with 14 boundaries studded in his 118-ball knock.

Khurram Shahzad scored an unbeaten 45.

KRL, who have been set 304 for victory, slumped to 29-3 at stumps with all three batsmen being dismissed LBW. Earlier, KRL added only 14 runs to their Wednesday’s tally of 169 with left-arm ex-Pakistan seamer Samiullah Khan Niazi picking up three wickets for no runs to finish with six for 48 in 18.1 overs.

National Bank need a much-improved batting performance to avoid their second straight defeat in the championship after closing at 25-1 in pursuit of a daunting target of 390 against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. The bankers lost five for just 12 runs before being bowled for 222 in reply to ZTBL’s first-innings total of 372 with discarded Test paceman Mohammad Khalil taking three of the wickets on his way to four for 43. ZTBL then closed their second innings at 239-8 with openers Afaq Raheem (92 off 175 balls, seven fours) and first-innings century-maker Sharjeel Khan (57 off 50, six fours and three sixes) doing bulk of the scoring.

Habib Bank were 238-7 in their second innings after securing a 53-run lead o the first by dismissing Wapda for 235 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Stand-in skipper Imran Farhat (56) and Hasan Raza (57) were the major contributors for the bankers after low left-armer Aslam Qureshi had taken 4-70 in Wapda’s innings.

The match between United Bank and PIA was delicately poised at the UBL Sports Complex here in Karachi with the bankers reaching stumps at 144-3 while chasing 312. United Bank’s surprise comeback has been made possible by the unbroken 117-run partnership between Saad Surkhail (68) and the left-handed ex-Pakistan Under-19 player Ali Asad (53).

Earlier, PIA were all out for 222 in their second innings with skipper Kamran Sajid top-scoring with 62 and wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed making 41.

Kashif Bhatti, the 26-year-old Nawabshah-born slow left-armer, continued his magnificent start to the season with five for 75 – his third such haul in four innings – and match haul of eight for 126 to follow 10-160 against Port Qasim Authority (PQA) last week.

State Bank bounced back strongly to out themselves on victory path against PQA at the National Stadium. Facing a deficit of 38 runs on the first innings, State Bank put a decisive bowling show to send PQA reeling to 160 all out in the second innings with southpaw spinner Hasan Mahmood capturing 4-17 to end up with match figures of 8-76.

State Bank, chasing 199, had reached 166-4 with skipper Kashif Siddique leading the way by contributing a quickfire 73 off only 52 deliveries with 12 fours and one six. Out-of-favour Test paceman Tanvir Ahmed has so far claimed all the four wickets to fall for 51 runs.

Close of play scores on Thursday (day three of four): At National Stadium, Karachi: PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 218 in 92.4 overs (Shahzaib Hasan 60, Umar Amin 50; Hasan Mahmood 4-59, Adnan Rasool 3-69) and 160 in 54.1 overs (Mohammad Salman 64; Hasan Mahmood 4-17, Adnan Rasool 3-42); STATE BANK 180 in 45.4 overs (Gulraiz Sadaf 50; Abdur Rauf 4-56, Tanvir Ahmed 3-23, Mohammad Talha 3-74) and 166-4 in 31 overs (Kashif Siddique 73; Tanvir Ahmed 4-51).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: PIA 214 in 78.1 overs (Sarfraz Ahmed 75, Shahzar Mohammad 69; Kashif Bhatti 3-51) and 222 in 68.2 overs (Kamran Sajid 62, Agha Sabir 57, Sarfraz Ahmed 41; Kashif Bhatti 5-75, Shabbir Ahmed 4-22); UNITED BANK 125 in 57.4 overs (Aizaz Cheema 3-19, Akhtar Kayani 3-38) and 144-3 in 43 overs (Saad Surkhail 68 not out, Ali Asad 53 not out).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: HABIB BANK 288 in 95.5 overs (Shan Masood 94, Usman Salahuddin 84 not out; Junaid Khan 6-79) and 238-7 in 75 overs (Hasan Raza 57, Imran Farhat 56); WAPDA 235 in 74 overs (Bilal Khilji 75, Sohaib Maqsood 49, Riffatullah Mohmand 44, Zulfiqar Babar 40; Ehsan Adil 4-53, Aslam Qureshi 4-70).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: SNGPL 291 in 95.1 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 68, Ali Waqas 55, Azhar Ali 49; Yasir Ali 3-38, Mohammad Irfan 3-69) and 195-4 declared in 59 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 95, Khurram Shahzad 45 not out); KRL 183 in 74.1 overs (Samiullah Niazi 6-48) and 29-3 in 13 overs.

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: ZTBL 372 in 101.4 overs (Sharjeel Khan 121, Zohaib Khan 83 not out, Atif Ashraf 72; Uzair-ul-Haq 4-82, Mohammad Imran Khan 3-72) and 239-8 declared in 63 overs (Afaq Raheem 92, Sharjeel Khan 57; Wahab Riaz 3-47); NATIONAL BANK 222 in 64 overs (Sami Aslam 50, Nasir Jamshed 46; Mohammad Khalil 4-43, Rehan Riaz 3-56, Zohaib Khan 3-38) and 25-1 in 8 overs.