KARACHI Blues and Sialkot qualified for the final of the Super Eight segment in the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship after both sides recorded resounding victories within three days to top their respective groups on Wednesday.

Karachi Blues secured their third straight success in Group ‘B’ — which they comfortably topped with 27 points — when they downed Lahore Ravi by eight wickets at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on the penultimate day of the last-round four-day fixture.

After dismissing the Ravians, who were 147-4 in the second innings, for 209 with the remaining six wickets tumbling for only 28 runs following the termination of the fifth-wicket partnership of 124 between skipper Adnan Akmal (54) and Jahangir Mirza (70) by paceman Anwar Ali.

Anwar, a key member of the Pakistan squad that won the ICC Under-19 World Cup in 2006, finished with impressive figures of five for 61 in 19 overs with good support from fast bowler Tabish Khan (3-79) and Tariq Haroon (2-29).

Needing 120 to seal their berth in the Feb 24-28 final, the Blues got home without trouble by reaching 121-2 with talented opener Fakhar Zaman (61 not out) and fellow left-hander Mohammad Waqas (47) adding 85 for the second wicket.

Sialkot were more ruthless in their rout of Rawalpindi at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi as they romped to an innings and 60 runs victory in the Group ‘A’ tie that enabled them to claim the top spot with 15 points, three more than their demoralised hosts.

After declaring at 563-7 having resumed their overnight first innings of 433-4, with a massive 269-run lead, Sialkot sent Rawalpindi hustling to 209 all out in their second innings in 49 overs. Only Shoaib Ahmed Minhas (54) and skipper Babar Naeem (71) offered resistance in a fighting stand of 111 for the fifth wicket. The in-form Umar Amin was tragically run out for 14.

Shoaib Malik, the Sialkot skipper, followed up his brilliant 152 on Tuesday, with figures of five for 64 from 18 overs of his off-spinners. The former Pakistan captain had a match haul of eight for 126 in 43 overs but he won’t be seen in action during the final after being named on Wednesday night in both national squads for the T20 and ODI series in South Africa which begin from March 1 with the T20 series. Young paceman Bilawal Bhatti took three for 78 to end up with match analysis of seven for 149.

Earlier, discarded Test batsman Mohammad Ayub Dogar added 34 to his Tuesday’s score of 126, while putting on 103 for the fifth wicket with all-rounder Mansoor Amjad (54). Ayub’s 160 — the 33-year-old right-hander’s 18th first-class century — was laced with 21 boundaries in a stay of 328 minutes during which he negotiated 211 deliveries.Karachi Blues’ win inevitably reduced the Lahore Shalimar-Hyderabad Group ‘A’ fixture at the LCCA Ground in Lahore to a trivial affair. Despite earning a big lead of 215 on the first innings by bowling out Hyderabad, overnight 60-2, for a modest total of 258, Shalimar skipper Kamran Akmal opted against enforcing the follow on.

Scoring at more than six runs per over, Shalimar declared their second innings at 309-4 in 50 overs with Kamran (55), Imran Butt (81), Umar Akmal (71) and Wahab Riaz (58 not out) all making merry.

Hyderabad will begin their chase for an improbable 515-run target on Thursday since the Shalimar think tank announced the declaration at draw of stumps.

But Islamabad did forced Karachi Whites to follow on after the visitors crashed to 209 all out after having started the day at 166-4 in response to Islamabad’s 414 in the otherwise meaningless Group ‘A’ fixture at the Diamond Club Ground Islamabad.

However, the Whites, beginning their second innings with a deficit of 205, made excellent progress after losing both openers, Shahzaib Hasan and Zeeshan Jamil rather cheaply, to post 261-2. Khalid Latif and Fawad Alam, both sadly out of favour with the national selectors, led the fightback with centuries in the unfinished partnership that has yielded 217 runs.

The right-handed Khalid recorded his 19th first-class hundred by scoring 104 (167 balls, nine fours and three sixes), while Fawad, who also completed 1,000 runs for the season, had contributed 109 (178 balls, 17 boundaries) with the left-hander also notching up his 19th three-figure knock.Bahawalpur ensured their spot in the final of the Bottoms Six Teams competition after piling up 376 in their second innings of the Pool ‘B’ tie against Peshawar at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. Peshawar, who require a highly unlikely 497, reached 10-0 in the second innings at draw of stumps.

The other contenders for the second tier finale still remain undecided with both Faisalabad and hosts Multan locked in a tense battle for supremacy in the Pool ‘A’ clash at Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan. Multan, chasing 205, stumbled to 45-3 and still need 160 on Thursday’s last day to make the final.

Faisalabad, who were 21-1 at stumps on day two, made 198 in the second innings.

 Close of play scores and results on Wednesday (day three of four): Super Eight:

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Karachi Blues beat Lahore Ravi by eight wickets.

LAHORE RAVI 175 in 55.2 overs (Adnan Akmal 56, Imran Ali 34 not out, Jahangir Mirza 27; Tariq Haroon 3-48, Tabish Khan 3-53, Zohaib Shera 2-42) and 209 in 66.4 overs (Jahangir Mirza 70, Adnan Akmal 54, Sami Aslam 25; Anwar Ali 5-61, Tabish Khan 3-79, Tariq Haroon 2-29); KARACHI BLUES 265 in 67.2 overs (Fakhar Zaman 64, Tariq Haroon 61, Akbar-ur-Rehman 38, Anwar Ali 38, Mohammad Waqas 27; Mohammad Irshad 5-81, Emmad Ali 3-74) and 121-2 in 28.2 overs (Fakhar Zaman 61 not out, Akbar-ur-Rehman 47).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE SHALIMAR 473-7 declared in 103 overs (Imran Butt 126, Umar Akmal 119, Kamran Akmal 70, Usman Salahuddin 59 not out, Waqas Saleem 31; Lal Kumar 3-108, Rehan Riaz 2-72) and 309-4 declared in 50 overs (Imran Butt 81, Umar Akmal 71, Wahab Riaz 58 not out, Kamran Akmal 55, Fahad-ul-Haq 32 not out; Imran Chandio 2-50); HYDERABAD 258 in 51 overs (Zahid Mahmood 60 not out, Mir Ali Talpur 57, Sharjeel Khan 31, Rizwan Ahmed 28; Mohammad Irfan 3-78, Umar Akmal 2-24, Zia-ul-Haq 2-58).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Sialkot beat Rawalpindi by an innings and 60 runs.

RAWALPINDI 294 in 88.2 overs (Umar Amin 75, Adnan Mufti 54, Jamal Anwar 32, Babar Naeem 29, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 29; Bilawal Bhatti 4-71, Shoaib Malik 3-62, Mohammad Ali 2-56) and 209 in 49 overs (Babar Naeem 71, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 53, Umar Waheed 40; Shoaib Malik 5-64, Bilawal Bhatti 3-78); SIALKOT 563-7 declared in 117 overs (Mohammad Ayub Dogar 160, Shoaib Malik 152, Hafiz Majid Jahangir 92, Mansoor Amjad 54, Zeeshan Mushtaq 32 not out; Shakeel Ansar 30; Saad Altaf 3-116, Babar Naeem 2-107).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ISLAMABAD 414 in 129.5 overs (Shan Masood 199, Ali Sarfraz 50, Hamza Nadeem 34, Imad Wasim 28; Mohammad Sami 3-78, Abdul Ameer 3-112, Atif Maqbool 3-121); KARACHI WHITES 209 in 67.5 overs (Khalid Latif 59, Shahzaib Hasan 51, Fawad Alam 38; Rao Iftikhar 3-31, Imad Wasim 3-61, Hamza Nadeem 2-53) and 261-2 in 64 overs (Fawad Alam 109 not out, Khalid Latif 104 not out).

Bottom Six Teams: At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: FAISALABAD 256 in 76.5 overs (Ali Waqas 105 not out, Mohammad Shahid 38, Asif Ali 33, Imran Khalid 27; Zulfiqar Babar 6-77, Saeed Anwar Jr 2-15) and 198 in 72.1 overs (Mohammad Shahid 30, Mohammad Salman 29; Rizwan Haider 3-38, Aamir Yamin 3-46, Zulfiqar Babar 3-69); MULTAN 250 in 80.5 overs (Sohaib Maqsood 65, Rizwan Haider 54, Maqbool Ahmed 48 not out; Samiullah Khan Niazi 7-52, Waqas Maqsood 2-78) and 45-3 in 18 overs.

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur: BAHAWALPUR 292 in 82.5 overs (Hamid 89, Rehan Rafiq 66, Ansar Javed 41, Kamran Hussain 38; Afaq Ahmed 6-46, Azizullah 2-71) and 376 in 103.4 overs (Bilal Khilji 74, Hamid Ali 72, Kamran Hussain 60, Rehan Rafiq 52, Ansar Javed 44, Waqas Khan 28; Sajjad Ahmed 5-62, Azizullah 2-101, Afaq Ahmed 2-113); PESHAWAR 172 in 67.4 overs (Jamaluddin 82, Naved Khan 36; Kamran Hussain 5-44, Ansar Javed 2-26, Ataullah 2-43) and 10-0 in 1 over.