KARACHI Blues are poised to become the inaugural Super Eight champions of the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship after Sialkot struggled to 189-5 in their second innings on the penultimate day of the five-day final at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday.

Despite fighting half-centuries by Mohammad Ayub Dogar and captain Mansoor Amjad, Sialkot were on the back foot when they came out to bat after Karachi Blues further consolidated their stronghold on the match by finishing with a significant first-innings lead of 199 after having added 27 to their overnight 401-7.

Sialkot, who made a modest 229 in the first innings and are still 10 runs away from avoiding innings defeat, began their long mission to wipe out the big deficit on a satisfactory note as wicket-keeper Shakeel Ansar (11) and Hafiz Majid Jahangir (37) put on 43 for the opening wicket.

But Akbar-ur-Rehman’s double strikes left them battling for survival as Majid and the burly Faisal Khan (10) fell within the space of 16 runs after left-arm seamer Rumman Raees Khan had trapped Shakeel in front of the stumps.

Seasoned campaigner Ayub, the top-scorer in the first innings with 72, for the second time in the match was forced to play the role of a sheet-anchor as he battled through 147 minutes to remain undefeated with an 89-ball 57 studded with seven boundaries. The discarded Pakistan batsman watched Mansoor swing his bat in a cavalier fashion as the duo shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 98 in 91 minutes when Tariq Haroon struck two quick blows to put Karachi Blues in firm control.

A batting all-rounder who seldom bowls above gentle pace, got rid of Mansoor (60 off 77 balls, eight fours and one six) and Nayyar Abbas (4) in successive overs. Mansoor attempted a booming drive but only managed to chop the ball onto his stumps, while Nayyar was caught by keeper Javed Mansoor on the second attempt.

Earlier, Akbar could add just a couple of singles to his monumental 176 after play began in the afternoon session 130 minutes behind schedule following the heavy rains in the Punjab metropolis on Tuesday night.

Akbar paid the price of playing across the line and was leg-before to Bilawal Bhatti who, by far, was the best Sialkot bowler. Akbar’s 178 from 277 balls in a marathon stay of almost seven hours (414 minutes) saw him strike 24 boundaries and one six.

Azam Hussain, who played a key role in assisting Akbar put on 113 for the eighth wicket, scored most of the runs to extend his overnight tally of 53 to a career-best 74 not out. The left-hander’s 90-ball grand effort was embellished with 10 hits to the fence.

Bilawal ended up with analysis of four for 119 in 32 overs of toil with Faisal Rasheed and Ali Khan taking two apiece. Scoreboard SIALKOT (1st Innings) 229 (Mohammad Ayub Dogar 72, Hafiz Majid Jahangir 54, Bilawal Bhatti 34; Anwar Ali 4-64, Tariq Haroon 2-20, Azam Hussain 2-22). KARACHI BLUES (1st Innings, overnight 401-7): Khurram Manzoor c Shakeel b F. Rasheed    29 Fakhar Zaman b Bilawal    34 Mohammad Wajihuddin lbw b Ali    7 Akbar-ur-Rehman lbw b Bilawal    178 Mohammad Waqas c Bilawal b Nayyar    13 Javed Mansoor c Majid b Bilawal    22 Anwar Ali c Nayyar b Ali Khan    16 Tariq Haroon c Nayyar b Majid    17 Azam Hussain not out    74 Tabish Khan lbw b Bilawal    0 Rumman Raees Khan b Faisal Rasheed    0 EXTRAS (B-16, LB-12, W-3, NB-7)    38 TOTAL (all out, 128.5 overs)    428 FALL OF WKTS: 1-59, 2-71, 3-106, 4-160, 5-234, 6-272, 7-298, 8-411, 9-423. BOWLING: Bilawal Bhatti 32-6-1119-4 (6nb, 1w); Mohammad Abbas 24-4-50-0 (1w); Faisal Rasheed 30.5-10-64-2; Ali Khan 12-3-50-2 (1w); Nayyar Abbas 17-2-64-1 (1nb); Mansoor Amjad 9-0-44-0; Hafiz Majid Jahangir 4-0-9-1. SIALKOT (2nd Innings): Shakeel Ansar lbw b Rumman    11 Hafiz Majid Jahangir c and b Akbar    37 Faisal Khan lbw b Akbar    10 Mohammad Ayub Dogar not out    57 Mansoor Amjad b Tariq    60 Nayyar Abbas c Javed b Tariq    4 Zeeshan Mushtaq not out    2 EXTRAS (B-2, LB-5, NB-1)    8 TOTAL (for five wkts, 49 overs)    189 FALL OF WKTS: 1-43, 2-55, 3-71, 4-169, 5-173. BOWLING (to-date): Anwar Ali 7-1-34-0; Tabish Khan 5-1-24-0; Tariq Haroon 12-0-43-2; Rumman Raees Khan 7-1-23-1 (1nb); Akbar-ur-Rehman 8-1-25-2; Azam Hussain 10-2-33-0.