March 31, 2003	Monday	Muharram 27, 1424

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LAHORE,  March 30: An intriguing encounter is in prospect when PIA, the hot favourites, face Wapda in the final of the NBP One-day Patron’s Cup at Gaddafi Stadium on Monday.

Led by Test discard Moin Khan, PIA are likely to include Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq in a team which comprises of most of the players who played against Allied Bank in the semifinal.

Moin himself is in excellent form, having blasted a memorable 174 in the quarterfinal victory over Lahore Whites. The former Test captain then struck an unbeaten 82 in the nine-wicket semifinal win.

Faisal Iqbal, Yasir Hameed, Asif Mujtaba and Ghulam  Ali are the other batting hopes in the PIA side.

If Saqlain does play then PIA will boast of a formidable bowling line-up with the likes of young pacemen Fazle Akbar and  Umar Gul, off-spinner Shoaib Malik and slow left-armer Nadeem Khan providing balance as well as variety.

On the other hand, Wapda do not have a long queue  of stalwarts but they are team which offers lot of fighting spirit as KRL found to their cost in the semifinal on Friday.

Led by wicket-keeper/batsman Zahid Umar, Wapda made it to the final with a good track record, beating Peshawar in the quarterfinals by a big margin 127 and then stunned the star-studded KRL by huge margin of 168 runs in the semifinal.

Adil Nisar, who struck timely form with an excellent 96 on Friday, and Rizwan Malik lead the batting department which also features Tariq Aziz, Ijaz Mahmood and Shahid Mansoor.

All-rounder Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan, a member of the  Sharjah-bound Pakistan squad, holds key for Wapda. Pace duo of Kashif Raza and lanky Waqas Ahmed are complemented by presence of left-arm spinner Farooq  Iqbal and off-spinner  Aqeel Ahmed.

The pitch for the final will favour batsmen, thus ensuring a high-scoring match.