KARACHI, Dec 31: Karachi Blues had to settle for just three points as Quetta forced a draw in the four-day Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship fixture here at the NBP Sports Complex here on Monday.

The Blues, who declared their first innings at 502-9 declared on day two, found wickets hard to come by when they took the field, Quetta, resuming from Sunday’s score of 212-7, were all out for 242 with Taimur adding just two runs to his overnight tally of 74 when he was bowled by discarded paceman Tanvir Ahmed.

Slow left-armer Azam Hussain claimed the remaining two wickets to finish with impressive figures of five for 50 in 29.3 overs.

For some strange reasons, Karachi Blues decided against enforcing the follow on and batted for three overs before declaring their second innings at 14-1. The visitors, who were set a target of 275, survived 54 overs to reach 127-3. Karachi player Ali Asad, who is turning out for Quetta as a guest, made 63 (132 balls, 10 fours).

Rizwan Ahmed, who made a solitary appearance for Pakistan in a One-day International against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura in early 2008, secured an honourable draw for Hyderabad against Abbottabad at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad with an undefeated century.

The hosts, who began their run 334-chase on the final day, reached 225-4 with Rizwan striking exactly 100 off 217 balls. The 34-year-old right-hander’s 276 minutes’ vigil at the crease saw him hit 10 fours. Mir Ali Talpur also played a fine supporting role by contributing an 88-ball 63 that included two fours and one six.

Early on, Abbottabad looked on course for victory when spinner Khalid Usman sent back Zafar Ali (7) to leave Hyderabad in trouble at 56-3 before Rizwan and Lal Kumar (27) added 50 in 73 minutes before the latter was bowled by Riaz Kail. But Rizwan and Ali stayed firm until the end.

In the truncated matches in northern parts of the country, Islamabad upstaged Multan by 71 runs at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital, while the remaining two ties ended in ‘no-results’.

After both teams had forfeited their first innings, Multan reached 0-0 in response to Islamabad’s 209 on day three. The visitors found batting increasingly difficult on the last day and were all out for 148 inside 44 overs with only all-rounder Rizwan Haider, who made a rapid 52 off 45 balls with eight fours and one six, managed to fight it out with some lusty hitting.

Multan’s wrecker-in-chief was the 27-year-old seamer Shehzad Azam Rana who bagged five wickets for 27 runs in 11 overs.

Former Pakistan paceman Rao Iftikhar (2-41) and left-armed pacer Nasrullah Khan (2-43) provided good support.

There was no play on the fourth day of the Faisalabad-Bahawalpur fixture at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha because of heavy rain. The hosts were due to resume at 120-4 in reply to Bahawalpur’s first-innings total of 181.

After three blank days, play finally got under way at the Zahoor Elahi Stadium in Gujrat where both Sialkot and Lahore Ravi opted to forfeit their first innings to achieve a result. After being put into bat by Lahore Ravi skipper Adnan Akmal, hosts Sialkot batted for 63 overs to make 117-1 with opener Naved Sarwar scoring a laborious unbeaten 50 (205 balls, four boundaries) before skipper Mansoor Amjad made a token declaration.

The Ravians faced 11 overs to score 28-1.

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

Group-I:

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: Match drawn. KARACHI BLUES 502-9 declared in 150.2 overs (Khurram Manzoor 162, Faisal Iqbal 117, Akbar-ur-Rehman 54, Tanvir Ahmed 51, Behram Khan 49; Jalat Khan 4-125, Arun Lal 2-77, Yasir Ali 2-106) and 14-1 declared in 3 overs; QUETTA 242 in 115.3 overs (Taimur Ali 76, Badar Ali 52, Ali Asad 31; Azam Hussain 5-50, Misbah Khan 3-66) and 127-3 in 54 overs (Ali Asad 63; Akbar-ur-Rehman 2-50). At Zahoor Elahi Stadium, Gujrat: Match drawn. SIALKOT ((first innings forfeited) and 117-1 declared in 63 overs (Naved Sarwar 50 not out, Majid Jahangir 36); LAHORE RAVI (first innings forfeited) and 28-1 in 11 overs. At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Islamabad beat Multan by 71 runs. ISLAMABAD (first innings forfeited) and 209 in 60.2 overs (Shan Masood 99, Naeem Anjum 42; Rahat Ali 4-73, Sohaib Maqsood 2-13, Shahbaz Hasan Khan 2-29, Rizwan Haider 2-61) MULTAN (first innings forfeited) and 138 in 43.3 overs (Rizwan Haider 52; Shehzad Azam 5-21, Rao Iftikhar 2-41, Nasrullah Khan 2-43).

Group-II: At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: Match drawn. ABBOTTABAD 228 in 80.5 overs (Yasir Hameed 84; Zahid Mahmood 5-58, Shoaib Leghari 3-33) and 275 in 102 overs (Yasir Shah 60, Yasir Hameed 54, Hammad Ali 43, Mir Azam 34; Shoaib Leghari 4-61, Lal Kumar 3-49, Zahid Mahmood 3-78); HYDERABAD 170 in 64.1 overs (Mir Ali Talpur 66, Aqeel Anjum 42; Yasir Shah 4-68, Fazle Rabbi 2-7, Khalid Usman 2-44) and 225-4 in 76.4 overs (Rizwan Ahmed 100 not out, Mir Ali Talpur 63 not out). At Sports Stadium, Sargodha: Match drawn (no play on Monday). BAHAWALPUR 181 in 65.4 overs (Usman Tariq 39; Naseer Akram 5-45, Ehsan Adil 3-60, Samiullah Khan Niazi 2-60); FAISALABAD 120-4 in 42 overs (Asif Ali 54, Ali Waqas 43 not out; Kamran Hussain 3-36).