FAISALABAD and Bahawalpur set a date in the final of the Bottom Six Teams event of the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship rain played havoc with their last-round pool fixtures on Thursday.

Faisalabad qualified after the last day of their four-day Pool ‘A’ match against Multan at the Multan Cricket Stadium was abandoned without a ball being bowled because of heavy rain.

This game was intriguingly poised at stumps on Wednesday with both teams in fray for the Feb 24-28 final at the Multan Cricket Stadium. Multan had made 45-3 in pursuit of an achievable target of 205.

With the match ending in a draw, Faisalabad claimed three points for their narrow six-run lead on the first innings to finish with a tally of 12 points. Multan secured just three points in the drawn tie against Abbottabad.

Bahawalpur sealed their spot in the final from Pool ‘B’ after drawing with Peshawar at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Mirpur where just 30 overs of action was possible. Peshawar, resuming at 10-0, reached 149-4 in their second innings with left-handed opener Israrullah (46) and wicket-keeper/batsman Mohammad Rizwan (53) putting 96 for the second wicket.

Bahawalpur topped the standings with six points, followed by Peshawar and Quetta, who both ended up with two points apiece.

Meanwhile, the remaining two Super Eight matches also were hit by bad weather and predictably were drawn.

At the LCCA Ground in Lahore, a total of just 5.4 overs were bowled during which Hyderabad, who were set a daunting target of 515 by Lahore Shalimar, made 28-0 in the Group ‘B’ fixture.

The Group ‘B’ battle between Islamabad and Karachi Whites at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad also was drastically reduced to a no-contest by rain in the federal capital. Karachi Whites, who were 261-2 after being forced to follow on, had made 325-5 after adding 64 runs in the 23.2 overs of play.

Their overnight batsmen — and century-makers — Khalid Latif and Fawad Alam extended their third-wicket partnership to 242 before both were dismissed leg-before. Khalid scored 123 off 219 balls with the aid of 19 fours and four sixes, while the left-handed Fawad contributed 127 from 216 balls with 21 boundaries.

The finalists of the top tier competition were already decided on Wednesday with Sialkot and Karachi Blues qualifying from the two groups. That final would also begins from Sunday at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

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

Super Eight:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: Match drawn.

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) and 28-0 in 5.4 overs.

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Match drawn.

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 325-5 in 87.2 overs (Fawad Alam 127, Khalid Latif 123, Shahzaib Hasan 25; Hamza Nadeem 3-51).

Bottom Six Teams:

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: Match drawn – no play on Thursday (rain).

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: Match drawn.

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 149-4 in 31 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 53, Israrullah 46; Imranullah Aslam 2-43).

Final standings

(Tabulated under team, played, won, lost, drawn, points): Super Eight Group ‘A’ Sialkot    3    1    0    2    15 Rawalpindi    3    1    1    1    12 Islamabad    3    0    0    3      3 Karachi Whites    3    0    1    2      0 Group ‘B’ Karachi Blues    3    3    0    0    27 Lahore Shalimar    3    1    1    1    12 Hyderabad    3    0    1    2      0 Lahore Ravi    3    0    2    1      0 Bottom Six Teams Pool ‘A’ Faisalabad    2    1    0    1    12 Multan    2    0    2    0      3 Abbottabad    2    0    1    1      0 Pool ‘B’ Bahawalpur    2    0    0    2      6 Peshawar    2    0    0    2      2 Quetta    2    0    0    2      2