KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Rawalpindi and Islamabad all recorded important victories in the fifth-round fixtures of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship on Thursday.

With Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) winning by innings against Port Qasim Authority (PQA) within three days in Faisalabad on Wednesday, the remaining four matches of the current round were drawn.

HBL surged to second place in Pool ‘B’ after defeating Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) by 51 runs at the Marghazar Cricket Ground in Islamabad. With nine points from this game, their second straight success, HBL are 11 points behind National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), who despite dropping three points in the drawn game against Wapda top the group standings with 33.

KRL added 216 runs to Wednesday’s tally of 45-2 before being dismissed for 261 on the fourth and final day. For the second time in the match, Luqman Butt (80 off 104 balls, 14 boundaries) top-scored as he and skipper Saeed Anwar Jr (67) added 110 for the fifth wicket.

Umar Gul continued to make good impression with figures of 3-54 in 20.2 overs, giving the Pakistan seamer match haul of 7-85, while upcoming paceman Ammad Butt took 3-67.

Rawalpindi celebrated their first win in the championship when they overpowered Faisal Iqbal-led clueless Karachi Whites side by 90 runs after claiming remaining four wickets for the addition of 23 overs in 5.3 overs to dismiss the visitors for 91 in 43.3 overs.

New-ball duo of Saad Altaf (4-344) and Abid Hasan (4-15) shared the bowling honours as Rawalpindi earned six points to go three clear of sixth-placed Karachi Whites.

Wapda are third in the pool after taking first-innings lead against leaders NBP at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot. After declaring second innings at 240-7, Wapda set the bankers a stiff target of 355.

But after losing three wickets for 46, NBP opted to bat out the day to finish on 244-4. The high point being Akbar-ur-Rehman’s third century in as many matches. Akbar compiled an undefeated 102 off 187 balls with 12 fours and one six, while skipper Fawad Alam made 62.

In a remarkable turnaround at the Diamond Club Ground, hosts Islamabad rode on a sparkling knock of 133 from left-handed Ali Sarfraz to whip Hyderabad by nine wickets, a result which enabled the team from federal capital finally to rise from the last spot in Pool ‘A’ into sixth place.

Hyderabad, who now stay bottom with their fourth loss in five fixtures, were all out for 200 after resuming their second innings at 170-7. Fast bowler Shehzad Azam Rana grabbed all three wickets o fall on Thursday to end up with fine analysis of 6-38 in 23 overs, giving mach bag of 9-85 in 41 overs.

Chasing 269, Islamabad, who had trailed by 68 runs on the first innings, romped home in 57.5 overs by reaching 272-1. Openers Afaq Raheem (42) helped Ali, who struck 18 fours and one six during his 180-ball innings, put on 115 before Ali was joined by Abid Ali (84 off 93 balls, nine fours and one six) in the unfinished stand of 167.

Dogged batting by Babar Azam (90 off 117 balls, 17 boundaries), skipper Umar Amin (51) and Saifullah Khan Bangash (50 not out) thwarted Pool ‘A’ leaders United Bank Limited’s victory charge as Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) reached 293-6 in their second innings at the Marghazar Cricket Ground.

In the other drawn matches, Peshawar and Lahore Whites settled for three points apiece against Lahore Blues and Fata, respectively.

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

Fifth round:

Pool ‘A’:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: Match drawn.

LAHORE BLUES 267 in 86.4 overs (Saad Nasim 67, Agha Salman 54, Tayyab Tahir 41, Fahad-ul-Haq 26; Umair Khan 4-60, Taj Wali 4-90, Zohaib Khan 2-41) and 328-5 in 100 overs (Tayyab Tahir 96, Mohammad Ikhlaq 57, Agha Salman 51, Saad Nasim 41, Farhan khan 29 not out, Waqas Saleem 27); PESHAWAR 295 in 106 overs (Zohaib Khan 108, Akbar Badshah 66, Gohar Ali 23, Israrullah 22; Ahmed Bashir 4-67, Bilawal Iqbal 2-55, Saad Nasim 2-69).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Islamabad beat Hyderabad by nine wickets.

HYDERABAD 279 in 79.5 overs (Shoaib Leghari 48, Haris Khan 45, Lal Kumar 35, Rizwan Ahmed 33, Hazrat Shah 26 not out; Shehzad Azam Rana 3-47, Hasan Ali 3-81, Junaid Nadir 2-59, Zohaib Ahmed 2-60) and 200 in 58.5 overs (Shoaib Leghari 76 not out, Azeem Ghumman 60; Shahzad Azam Rana 6-38, Sarmad Bhatti 2-23); ISLAMABAD 211 in 54.1 overs (Zohaib Ahmed 68, Sarmad Bhatti 40, Junaid Nadir 24, Abid Ali 23, Shahid Yousuf 21; Babar Khan 6-59, Sajjad Hussain 2-55) and 272-1 in 57.5 overs 9Ali Sarfraz 133 not out, Abid Ali 84 not out, Afaq Raheem 42).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: Match drawn.

UNITED BANK LIMITED 514-8 declared in 123 overs (Shan Masood 97, Umair Khan 87, Hammad Azam 72 not out, Sharjeel Khan 72, Saeed bin Nasir 53, Younis Khan 42, Yasim Murtaza 35; Adnan Ghaus 3-125, Zafar Gohar 2-79, Tabish Khan 2-99); SUI SOUTHERN GAS COMPANY 244 in 79.4 overs (Awais Zia 72, Asif Zakir 62, Usama Mir 29, Tabish Khan 24; Mir Hamza 4-50, Ehsan Adil 2-45, Hammad Azam 2-56) and 293-6 in 73 overs (Babar Azam 90, Umar Amin 51, Saifullah khan Bangash 50 not out, Awais Zia 37, Asif Zakir 35; Yasim Murtaza 3-75).

Pool ‘B’:

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Match drawn.

FEDERALLY ADMINISTERED TRIBAL AREAS 314 in 65.2 overs (Fawad Khan 108, Rehan Afridi 52, Mohammad Irfan 40, Nisar Ahmed 27, Haroon Sadaqat 22, Khushdil Shah 20; Saif-ur-Rehman 5-76, Asif Raza 2-82) and 276-8 in 92 overs (Haroon Sadaqat 77 not out, Mohammad Zeeshan 58 not out, Asif Ali 49, Fawad Khan 29; Fahad Masood 4-36, Anas Mahmood 2-55); LAHORE WHITES 508-9 declared in 149 overs (Sami Aslam 221, Usman Salahuddin 111, Junaid Zia 33, Asif Raza 33, Mohammad Waheed 29, Faisal Khan 28; Mohammad Zeeshan 3-112, Ibrahim Gul 2-74).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: Match drawn.

WAPDA 315 in 83.5 overs (Aamir Sajjad 100, Bismillah Khan 84, Mohammad Saad 33, Zulfiqar Babar 29; Zia-ul-Haq 4-82, Ataullah 3-61, Akbar-ur-Rehman 2-5) and 240-7 declared in 67 overs (Atiq-ur-Rehman 80, Aamir Sajjad 66, Ayaz Tasawwar 32, Adnan Raees 20; Ataullah 3-49, Zia-ul-Haq 3-57); NATIONAL BANK OF PAKISTAN 201 in 63 overs (Qaiser Abbas 93 not out, Mohammad Nawaz 30; Azhar Attari 6-57, Adnan Raees 2-2, Waqas Maqsood 2-49) and 244-4 in 66 overs (Akbar-ur-Rehman 102 not out, Fawad Alam 62, Ahsan Ali 28, Qaiser Abbas 27 not out; Waqas Maqsood 2-51).

At National Ground, Islamabad: Habib Bank Limited beat Khan Research Laboratories by 51 runs.

HABIB BANK LIMITED 278 in 94.4 overs (Imran Farhat 95, Aftab Khan 74, Hasan Raza 33, Asad Shafiq 24; Mohammad Abbas 6-84, Sadaf Hussain 4-55) and 133-8 declared in 49 overs (Mohammad Waqas 50 not out, Imran Farhat 20; Mohammad Abbas 4-56, Yasir Ali 3-49); KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES 99 in 29.2 overs (Umar Gul 4-31, Abdur Rehman 3-13, Ammad Butt 2-22) and 45-2 in 21 overs (Zain Abbas 31 not out) and 261 in 81.2 overs (Luqman Butt 80, Saeed Anwar 67, Zain Abbas 35, Abdul Rehman Muzammil 24; Umar Gul 3-54, Ammad Butt 3-67, Altaf Ahmed 2-40, Abdur Rehman 2-86).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Rawalpindi beat Karachi Whites by 90 runs.

RAWALPINDI 172 in 50.2 overs (Aaqib Shah 54; Adeel Malik 4-54, Babar Rehman 3-43, Ghulam Mudassar 3-61) and 218 in 64.4 overs (Usman Saeed 70, Yasir Arafat 47, Babar Naeem 28; Adeel Malik 6-74, Babar Rehman 2-53); KARACHI WHITES 209 in 62.3 overs (Faisal Iqbal 54, Haris Ali Khan 36, Saad Ali 27, Jaahid Ali 24, Mohammad Hasan 20; Saad Altaf 4-84, Naseer Ahmed 3-62, Abid Hasan 2-50) and 91 in 38 overs (Jaahid Ali 30, Mohammad Hasan 24; Abid Hasan 4-15, Saad Altaf 4-34).

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2015