LAHORE, Jan 29: As expected Habib Bank recorded an easy six-wicket victory over Lahore Shalimar on Thursday to keep alive their hopes of reaching the final of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship.

The bankers, who resumed the final day of the match at the Gaddafi Stadium at 20-0, duly reached the modest target of 105 by scoring 108-4 to move into second place behind PIA in Group ‘A’. Both teams have 30 points in six games each with PIA on top on better net run-rate.

PIA, meanwhile, didn’t get a chance to bat in their ran-disrupted clash with Wapda at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot where there was no play on the opening two days. Wapda reached 274-7 in the remaining available time before the match was called off.

Defending champions SNGPL moved up into fifth spot after defeating bottom-placed Pakistan Customs by 177 runs at the Jinnah Stadium in Gujranwala.

Opening bowlers Samiullah Niazi and Imran Ali bowled unchanged to share all 10 wickets in Customs’ second innings of 103 with left-armer Samiullah taking 5-46 and Imran 5-56. Both finished with the same number of wickets in the match with Samiullah grabbing nine for 107 and Imran nine for 93.

Meanwhile, Rawalpindi opted for batting practice as their Group ‘B’ fixture against Lahore Ravi petered out in a listless draw at the LCCA Ground. Awais Zia excelled for the visitors with his maiden first-class century when scored an unbeaten 125 in a second-innings total of 321-3.

Sialkot took another giant step towards making the final by registering a massive 239-run victory against Multan at the Gymkhana Club Ground in Okara. Naved Arif claimed a career-best 6-33 as Multan capitulated for 100 after being set a target of 340. With four wins in five games, Sialkot top the Group with 36 points.

Our Sports Reporter adds from Karachi: Khan Research Laboratories recorded their second win in the championship when they defeated Sui Southern Gas Corporation (SSGC) by a margin of 131 runs at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi.

SSGC, who were 31-1 in the second innings at the start of play on Thursday, were dismissed for 210 with opener Wajid Ali contributing a patient 69. Left-arm paceman Junaid Khan captured four for 40. Yasir Arafat, who returned career-best figures of nine for 35 in the first innings, bowled just eight overs in the second innings, but still took a wicket to finish with match figures of 10 for 40.

Hyderabad, meanwhile, secured their first points of the season after taking first-innings lead in the drawn game against Abbottabad at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad. Replying to the hosts’ 471, Abbottabad scored 429.

Peshawar were heading for victory after bottom-placed Quetta reached 114-3 in their second innings on the penultimate day of the Group ‘B’ tie at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.

Peshawar gained a huge first-innings lead of 252 after declaring at 303-7 in reply to the visitors’ paltry score of 51.

Scores on Thursday (final day of four):

Group ‘A’:

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Habib Bank beat Lahore Shalimar by six wickets.

LAHORE SHALIMAR 252 in 94 overs

(Zulqarnain Haider 67, Muzaffar Mahboob 54; Fahad Masood 4-53) and 109 in 49.3 overs; HABIB BANK 257 in 80.4 overs (Younis Khan 99, Imran Nazir Jr 55; Mohammad Naveed 7-129) and 108-4 in 25.4 overs.

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: KRL beat SSGC by 131 runs.

KRL 191 in 48 overs (Shahzad Butt 4-47) and 229-7 declared (Mohammad Wasim 101 not out; SSGC 79 in 25.4 overs (Yasir Arafat 9-35) and 210 in 88.4 overs (Wajid Ali 69; Junaid Khan 4-40).At Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala: SNGPL beat Pakistan Customs by 177 runs.

SNGPL 196 in 60 overs (Azhar Shafiq 98 not out; Aamir Yousuf 5-68) and 224-8 declared in 69.4 overs (Azhar Shafiq 50); PAKISTAN CUSTOMS 140 in 34.4 overs (Imran Ali 4-37, Samiullah Niazi 4-61) and 103 in 30.4 overs (Samiullah Niazi 5-46, Imran Ali 5-56).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: Match drawn.

WAPDA 274-7 in 79 overs (Ali Azmat 52 not out, Imranullah Aslam 50 not out) v PIA – no play on first two days because of rain.Group ‘B’:

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: Match drawn.

RAWALPINDI 304 in 87.1 overs (Fawad Hussain 106, Naveed Qureshi 105) and 321-3 in 77.2 overs (Awais Zia 125 not out, Babar Naeem 96, Usman Saeed 85); LAHORE RAVI 267 in 129.5 overs (Ashraf Ali 97, Babar Manzoor 53; Yasim Murtaza 5-52).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: Match drawn.

HYDERABAD 471-9 declared in 152 overs (Azeem Ghumman 147, Faisal Athar 140, Hanif Malik 73; Armaghan Elahi 5-69) and 23-1 in 3 overs; ABBOTTABAD 429 in 169.2 overs (Hammad Ali 100, Adnan Raees 76, Riaz Kail 65, Mohammad Kashif 53; Lal Kumar 4-81).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: Match drawn.

FAISALABAD 151 in 45.2 overs (Ijaz Ahmed Jr 61 not out; Saad Altaf 5-75) and 246-6 declared in 64.2 overs (Zeeshan Asif 75 not out, Usman Arshad 75); ISLAMABAD 158 in 60.5 overs (Saad Munir 6-39) and 164-7 in 63 overs.

At Gymkhana Club Ground, Okara: Sialkot beat Multan by 239 runs.

SIALKOT 339 in 82.4 overs (Ayaz Tasawwar 100 not out, Naeemuddin 65) and 241-6 declared in 60 overs; MULTAN 241 in 82.2 overs (Rameez Alam 67, Rizwan Haider 55 not out) and 100 in 31.4 overs (Naved Arif 6-33, Nayyar Abbas 4-22).

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (day three): QUETTA 51 in 17.2 overs (Waqar Ahmed 6-29, Nauman Habib 4-20) and 114-3 in 37 overs; PESHAWAR 303-7 declared in 88.2 overs (Mahfooz Sabri 95, Mohammad Rizwan 51 not out).