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Published 28 Feb, 2009 12:00am

Sialkot storm into final, KRL stay in hunt

LAHORE, Feb 27 Sialkot qualified for the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship final as Group 'B' winners after completing a crushing 10-wicket victory over Faisalabad at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot on Friday.

Needing just 53, Sialkot romped home in 10.3 overs after Naved Arif, a left-arm medium-pacer, claimed five for 120 as Faisalabad were all out for 309 in the second innings.

Sialkot, who finished with 60 points from 10 points, chalked up their six win in the championship, will now host either National Bank or Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in the five-day final from March 3.

The finalists from Group 'A' won't be known until Saturday when National Bank finish their game in Sargodha against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), who ironically were the champions last season.

KRL, however, kept their slim hopes of making the final alive from this group as they also secured a three-day win against Pakistan Customs at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Azad Jammu Kashmir on Friday.

KRL skipper Mohammad Wasim made 165 before declaring his team's second innings at 370-8, leaving Customs a daunting target of 400.

But the Customs collapsed dramatically to 79 all out with left-arm paceman Junaid Khan returning remarkable figures of five wickets for four runs in four overs.

National Bank, meanwhile gained a vital 34-run lead on the first innings as SNGPL were dismissed for 292. The bankers extended that advantage to 177 by closing at 143-3 in the second innings.

Scores on Friday (day three of four)

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad

LAHORE RAVI 387 (Sohail Ahmed 102, Ashraf Ali 113; Saad Altaf 5-93) and 287-7 (Kashif Siddique 117); ISLAMABAD 264 (Ali Sarfraz 72; Waqas Ahmed 4-53, Usman Malik 4-63).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot Sialkot beat Faisalabad by 10 wickets.

FAISALABAD 122 and 309 (Imran Ali 128; Naved Arif 5-120); SIALKOT 379 (Bilal Azmat 100, Harris Sohail 86; Qaiser Iqbal 4-66) and 53-0.

At Sports Stadium, Sargodha

NATIONAL BANK 326 (Umar Amin 84, Naumanullah 55, Nasir Jamshed 51; Samiullah Niazi 4-60) and 143-3; SNGPL 292 (Umar Akmal 130; Wahab Riaz 4-74).

At Gymkhana Club Ground, Okara

ABBOTTABAD 333 (Fawad Khan 111, Ghulam Mohammad 64; Ansar Javed 5-50) and 51-4; MULTAN 550-6 (Kashif Naved 193, Naved Yasin 80, Rizwan Haider 73, Mohammad Yasir 71, Gulraiz Sadaf 50 not out).

Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Azad Jammu Kashmir KRL beat Pakistan Customs by 320 runs.

KRL 208 and 370-8 declared (Mohammad Wasim 165, Ali Naqvi 82; Farhan Ayub 5-103); PAKISTAN CUSTOMS 179 (Zahoor Elahi 64; Sohail Tanvir 7-91) and 79 (Junaid Khan 5-4).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad

PIA 459-9 declared (Fahad Iqbal 200 not out, Ali Imran Pasha 69, Sarfraz Ahmed 65); ZTBL 322-7 (Inam-ul-Haq 145, Afaq Rahim 61).

At Sports Stadium, Nawabshah

HYDERABAD 278 (Nasrullah Memon 70; Tabish Khan 4-64) and 232-5 (Aqeel Anjum 78, Azeem Ghumman 51); KARACHI BLUES 206 (Lal Kumar 5-77).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore

LAHORE SHALIMAR 456 (Abid Ali 114, Shiraz Butt 96, Zulqarnain Haider 72; Adnan Malik 4-105); SSGC 308-4 (Wajid Ali 119, Ahmed Zeeshan Malik 91).

At Sheikhupura Stadium

HABIB BANK 202 (Imran Farhat 100) and 164-4 (Rehan Rafiq 81 not out); WAPDA 264 (Aamir Sajjad 61, Nawaz Sardar 52; Abdul Rehman 4-72).

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