LAHORE: Fata, Lahore Whites, Multan and Quetta registered victories in their respective Quaid-e-Azam Trophy third-round matches played at different venues across the country on Thursday.

Faisalabad, meanwhile, will look to wrap up proceedings on the fourth and final day of their fixture against Islamabad, needing three more wickets for a win.

Fata chased down 178 runs against Lahore Blues at the Gohati Cricket Stadium in Swabi to win by six wickets as Mohammad Usman struck an unbeaten half-century. They had earlier bundled out Blues for a 120 runs, after they had started the day at 119-8.

At Marghzar Cricket Ground, Lahore Whites lost only two wickets in their pursuit of 123 to beat Larkana by eight wickets as opener Imran Dogar smashed 78 off 50 (12 fours and three sixes).

Larkana were earlier restricted to 258 after having started the day at 129-4, with Whites pacer Ubaid Shah picking up three wickets.

Multan’s Mohammad Ismail picked up 5-62 to bundle out Azad Jammu & Kashmir for 168 and give his team a huge victory by an innings and 112 runs at the Ashfaq Cricket Ground in Charsadda. Starting the day with a deficit of 262 runs, AJ K were 18-0 before Ismail took them on.

Quetta too got an innings defeat; over Dera Murad Jamali at the Railway Cricket Ground in Haripur. After posting 438 at the back of Bismillah Khan’s 166, Quetta saw their opponents dismissed for 169 as Danish Aziz registered 7-114.

At the National Ground in the capital, Islamabad were reduced to 136-7 needing 260 more to win against Faisalabad. Islamabad are eyeing defeat despite their pacer Musa Khan earlier having triggered Faisalabad’s batting collapse from 238-2 to 346 with a five-wicket haul.

At Islamabad’s Diamond Cricket Ground, Mohammad Arif (96 off 133) and Khayam Khan (63 off 94) saw Abbotabad extend their lead over Bahawalpur to 340, closing the third day at 365-9. Bahawalpur’s Shehryar Baloch took five wickets.

In other matches, Bahawalpur set a 301-run target for Karachi Whites, Mehran Mumtaz took his third first-class five-wicket haul against Peshawar and Saufullah Bangash hit a century for Karachi Blues against Sialkot.Published in Dawn, November 22th, 2024