KARACHI, Nov 11 Group 'B' leaders Karachi Blues were in sight of another victory after Lahore Ravi lost four second-innings wickets for 48 runs on the penultimate day of the RBS Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship at the National Stadium here on Wednesday.

Lahore Ravi's top-order had no answer to paceman Mohammad Sami as three batsmen fell in a fiery burst from the Blues skipper after the visitors began their chase of a daunting target of 419.

Earlier, Asad Shafiq struck an undefeated 147 (284 balls, 15 boundaries) as the Blues reached 311 in their second innings after resuming at 102-4. Former International Junaid Zia, the Lahore Ravi captain, finished with 4-71 while his new-ball partner Waqas Ahmed took 3-62.

Multan, meanwhile, overwhelmed Hyderabad by innings and five runs inside three days of their match at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad. The home team made 254 in the second innings after Multan gained a first-innings lead of 259.

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) were heading for a win after Pakistan Customs slid to 36-3 in the second innings after facing a deficit of 138 in the Group 'A' match at the Marghzar Cricket Ground in Islamabad.

Earlier, SNGPL made a grand recovery to reach 307-8 declared after restarting their first innings at 77-4. Usman Salahuddin and wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal were the star performers with both of reaching triple figures for the first time in first-class cricket.

Usman made 116 ((244 balls, 13 fours and two sixes) while Adnan, brother of current Pakistan players Kamran and Umar Akmal, slammed 120 (202 balls, 19 boundaries) as the pair came together to add 219 for the sixth wicket after SNGPL subsided to 82-5. Paceman Tahir Mughal claimed 5-101.

Habib Bank, replying to Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC)'s 141, were 201-7 at close of play at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Our Sports Reporter adds from Lahore Lahore Shalimar were facing an uphill task to avoid sixth successive defeat in Group 'A' after Karachi Whites amassed 520 to take a huge first-innings lead of 263 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Lahore Shalimar still require 208 runs to make Karachi Whites bat again after reaching 55-1 at stumps.

Earlier, the visitors added a further 287 to their overnight score of 233-3 with Afsar Nawaz and Akbar-ur-Rehman narrowly missing scoring centuries while putting a fifth-wicket stand of 166 after opener Naved Khan, who was batting on 108 on Tuesday, was dismissed for 120. Afsar hit 96 (161 balls, nine fours and one six) and Akbar struck a career-best 98 (152 balls, 11 fours).

The PIA-National Bank fixture was heading for an interesting finish at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad with bankers needing a further 187 for victory with all second innings wickets intact. At draw of stumps, National Bank had advanced to 79 without loss with Umar Amin (44) and Rashid Riaz (29) at the crease.

PIA, resuming at 112-2, were bowled out for 256 in the second innings with Imran Javed taking 5-71. Agha Sabir was the top-scorer with 75 (11 fours) while tailender Anwar Ali struck a defiant 68 (nine fours).

PIA's wicket-keeper/batsman Sarfraz Ahmed, who is shortly due to leave for New Zealand for the upcoming Test series, had the mortification of bagging a 'pair' while his Pakistan team-mates Khurram Manzoor (1 and 12) and Faisal Iqbal (14 and 7) also failed to make impact in this match.

Scores and result on Wednesday (day three of four)

Group 'A'

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore LAHORE SHALIMAR 257 in 68.5 overs (Sohail Idrees 74, Ali Raza 71; Tabish Khan 3-69) and 53-1 in 13.1 overs; KARACHI WHITES 520-8 declared in 144 overs (Naved Khan 120, Akbar-ur-Rehman 98, Afsar Nawaz 96, Atif Ali Zaidi 58; Mohammad Naved 3-141).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad PIA 179 in 51.4 overs (Kamran Sajid 43; Uzair-ul-Haq 4-51, Wasim Khan 3-35) and 256 in 83.2 overs (Agha Sabir 75, Anwar Ali 68; Imran Javed 5-71, Mohammad Talha 3-72); NATIONAL BANK 170 in 47.2 overs (Qaiser Abbas 39, Amin-ur-Rehman 36; Ali Imran Pasha 4-53, Anwar Ali 4-58) and 79-0 in 29.3 overs (Umar Amin 44 not out).

At Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala WAPDA 446-8 declared in 120.5 overs (Adil Nisar 104, Riffatullah Mohmand 65, Ahmed Said 64 not out, Aamir Sajjad 64, Bilal Khilji 41; Mohammad Khalil 3-69, Kashif Dawood 3-88); ZTBL 16-0 in 7.2 overs - no play on Wednesday because of rain.

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi SSGC 141 in 64.4 overs (Bilal Asad 45, Saeed bin Nasir 34; Abdul Rehman 4-46); HABIB BANK 201-7 in 71 overs (Hasan Raza 39, Farhan Iqbal 36 not out; Shakeel-ur-Rehman 4-54).

At Marghzar Cricket Ground, Islamabad PAKISTAN CUSTOMS 169 in 45.3 overs (Rizwan Akbar 3-44) and 36-3 in 11 overs (Samiullah Niazi 3-23); SNGPL 307-8 declared in 101 overs (Adnan Akmal 120, Usman Salahuddin 116, Ali Waqas 43; Tahir Mughal 5-101).

Group 'B'

At National Stadium, Karachi KARACHI BLUES 297 in 77 overs (Shahzeb Hasan 127, Asad Shafiq 48; Mohammad Irshad 5-59) and 311 in 95.2 overs (Asad Shafiq 147 not out, Shahzeb Hasan 44; Junaid Zia 4-71, Waqas Ahmed 3-62); LAHORE RAVI 190 in 55.4 overs (Shahnawaz Malik 38, Kashif Siddique 37; Tanvir Ahmed 5-65, Atif Maqbool 3-30) and 48-4 in 16 overs (Mohammad Sami 3-26).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad Multan beat Hyderabad by an innings and five runs.

HYDERABAD 194 in 53.1 overs (Sharjeel Khan 46, Aqeel Anjum 37; Rizwan Haider 5-60) and 254 in 59.1 overs (Hanif-ur-Rehman 51, Nasrullah Memon 44, Lal Kumar 35; Ansar Javed 4-67, Rizwan Haider 3-49); MULTAN 453 in 124.2 overs (Naved Yasin 111, Kashif Naveed 61, Rizwan Haider 55, Babar Ali 42, Rameez Alam 38, Ansar Javed 36).

At Sports Stadium, Sargodha FAISALABAD 350 in 131 overs (Farrukh Shahzad 81, Zulqarnain 77 not out, Naved Latif 60, Abdul Rauf 35; Arshad Khan 3-92, Arun Lal 3-93); QUETTA 167 in 76.4 overs (Ashraf Khan 41; Zahoor Khan 5-35) and 143-4 in 43 overs (Shoaib Khan 80 not out, Shahzad Tareen 36; Ijaz Ahmed 3-42).

At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium ABBOTTABAD 111 in 44 overs (Nauman Habib 5-40, Riaz Afridi 5-70) and 321-6 in 90 overs (Adnan Raees 180 not out; Riaz Afridi 4-117); PESHAWAR 81 in 32.4 overs (Haroon Ahmed 46; Junaid Khan 6-43).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad RAWALPINDI 237 in 56.4 overs (Adnan Mufti 79, Naveed Qureshi 48, Zahid Mansoor 37; Rauf Akbar 4-88, Ashar Zaidi 3-30) and 69-2 in 12 overs; ISLAMABAD 151 in 50.3 overs (Ali Sarfraz 36; Rashid Latif 9-42).