KARACHI, Jan 22: Rawalpindi stormed to the top of Group-II table in the Faysal Bank Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship after clinching a 24-run victory over Lahore Shalimar at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday.

Lahore Shalimar began the final day of the four-day fixture better placed after making 134-3 of the 24-run target on Monday, but failed miserably in the run chase as they lost the last six wickets for 37 runs after reaching 178-4.

Discarded Pakistan all-rounder Hammad Azam bagged three for 33 in 13 overs with his nagging medium-pace bowling as did his older brother Haseeb, who also bowls medium-pacers and took 3-73. Left-arm paceman Saad Altaf was the real hero for Rawalpindi as he picked up three wickets for 44 runs in 24.1 overs.

The turning point for Lahore Shalimar came on Monday evening when Umar Akmal departed after a quickfire knock of 52 off 53 balls to leave his side at 120-3, although the situation required a much more mature approach from the Pakistan batsman who has the tendency of throwing away his wicket.

Rawalpindi’s second win in four matches took their tally of points to 24, three ahead of Karachi Whites, who didn’t feature in the fifth-round matches, and Lahore Shalimar who have played five matches.

Tuesday’s other victors were Hyderabad, who as expected, crushed Bahawalpur by an innings and 146 runs at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad. Bahawalpur, who were 89-6, offered some fought before being all out for 173 with Ansar Javed contributing an unbeaten 59 (90 balls, five fours and two sixes).

Off-spinner Nasir Awais captured two further wickets to finish with career-best analysis of six for 62 in 24.4 overs, while leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood snared three for 38 as Hyderabad celebrated their first win of the season.

Opener Fakhar Zaman made a promising debut into first-class cricket with a brace of half centuries as Group-I leaders Karachi Blues earned first-innings points in the drawn fixture against Multan at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan.

The 22-year-old Mardan-born left-hander followed his 79 in the first innings with 83 from 181 balls in 220 minutes as the Blues reached 203-4 after resuming their second innings at 6-0. Fakhar slammed 12 boundaries. All-rounder Akbar-ur-Rehman scored an unbeaten 51 (83 balls, seven fours).

Peshawar also earned three points after their game against Sialkot ended in a draw at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar. The hosts, resuming their second innings at 34-2, opted to bat on before declaring at 209-5 with Aftab Khan contributing an undefeated 100 off 175 balls (14 fours and one six).

Sialkot batted for 16 overs to score 32-0.

Gohar Faiz, a 26-year-old right-arm paceman, recorded his best-ever figures in first-class cricket by grabbing eight wickets for 50 runs in 18 overs as Quetta secured a handy lead of 129 after dismissing Islamabad for 134 at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital. The hosts lost seven wickets for 41 runs after beginning the third day of this tie at 73-3.

But Islamabad bounced back in style to send Quetta hurtling to 122 all out in their second innings. Left-arm paceman Nasrullah Khan claimed 5-27 in 12.2 overs, while wicket-keeper Naeem Anjum excelled with six catches.

Needing 252, Islamabad openers Raheel Majeed (27) and Shan Masood (15) survived until stumps with their side reaching 45-0.

Close of play scores and results on Tuesday (final day of four): Group-I: At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: Match drawn.

KARACHI BLUES 410 in 123.4 overs (Mohammad Waqas 150, Fakhar Zaman 79, Rameez Aziz 59, Akbar-ur-Rehman 35, Tariq Haroon 27; Zulfiqar Babar 6-149, Sohaib Maqsood 2-39) and 203-4 in 84 overs (Fakhar Zaman 83, Akbar-ur-Rehman 51 not out; Sohaib Maqsood 2-55, Zulfiqar Babar 2-86); MULTAN 363 in 107.1 overs (Saeed Anwar Jr 76, Naved Yasin 66, Rizwan Haider 59, Sohaib Maqsood 53, Maqbool Ahmed 40, Aamir Yamin 32; Tabish Khan 4-103, Misbah Khan 3-81).At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: Match drawn.

PESHAWAR 346 in 119.4 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 154 not out, Haroon Ahmed 52, Akbar Badshah 32; Bilawal Bhatti 4-101, Nayyar Abbas 3-82) and 209-5 declared in 74.2 overs (Aftab Khan 100 not out, Nawaz Ahmed 35, Akbar Badshah 29, Gohar Ali 28; Faisal Rasheed 2-59); SIALKOT 269 in 99.1 overs (Nayyar Abbas 54, Bilawal Bhatti 42, Hafiz Majid Jahangir 40, Zeeshan Mushtaq 40, Naved Sarwar 33; Afaq Ahmed 4-82, Zohaib Khan 3-65, Umar Farooq 2-48) and 32-0 in 16 overs.

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad (day three): QUETTA 263 in 69.1 overs (Qaiser Abbas 73, Jalat Khan 40, Taimur Ali 31, Arun Lal 29; Zohaib Ahmed 4-74, Shehzad Azam Rana 3-82, Nasrullah Khan 2-63) and 122 in 34.2 overs (Taimur Ali 40; Nasrullah Khan 5-27, Hamza Nadeem 2-28, Zohaib Ahmed 2-29); ISLAMABAD 134 in 47 overs (Raheel Majeed 31; Gohar Faiz 8-50) and 45-0 in 17 overs (Raheel Majeed 27 not out).

Group-II: At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: Hyderabad beat Bahawalpur by an innings and 146 runs.

HYDERABAD 513-9 declared in 140.3 overs (Rizwan Ahmed 157, Aqeel Anjum 104, Nauman Ali 56, Mir Ali Talpur 47, Azeem Ghumman 37, Rehan Riaz 33; Ansar Javed 3-68, Zeeshan Khalid 3-128); BAHAWALPUR 194 in 66.1 overs (Usman Tariq 72, Ansar Javed 26; Nauman Ali 3-25, Zahid Mahmood 3-55, Nasir Awais 3-59) and 173 in 58.4 overs (Ansar Javed 59 not out; Nasir Awais 6-62, Zahid Mahmood 3-38).

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur: Rawalpindi beat Lahore Shalimar by 24 runs.

RAWALPINDI 157 in 55.3 overs (Haseeb Azam 46, Jamal Anwar 28; Aizaz Cheema 4-48, Zia-ul-Haq 3-39, Mohammad Irfan 2-39) and 198 in 69 overs (Awais Zia 75, Umar Amin 29, Babar Naeem 28, Haseeb Azam 26; Zia-ul-Haq 5-84, Aizaz Cheema 4-52); LAHORE SHALIMAR 116 in 54 overs (Umar Siddique 46; Nasir Malik 4-31, Hammad Azam 3-13, Haseeb Azam 2-36) and 215 in 69.2 overs (Umar Akmal 52, Salman Ali 39, Imran Butt 26; Hammad Azam 3-33, Saad Altaf 3-44, Haseeb Azam 3-73).