January 05, 2007	Friday	Zilhaj 14, 1427

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KARACHI, Jan 4: The 49th edition of Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s premier national first-class cricket championship, gets under way from Saturday with six matches taking place simultaneously.

The format of the tournament is the same as last season with seven regional teams competing for honours in the Gold League. There are six teams in the Silver League.

Sialkot, who won the trophy for the first time in their history, are the defending champions, having outclassed Faisalabad inside three days in the final at Lahore in December 2005. However, the champions won’t be seen in action until the second round when they incidentally take on Faisalabad in Sialkot from Jan 12 to 15.

Karachi Harbour earned promotion to Gold League after winning the Silver League title last season when they decimated Hyderabad by an innings and 205 runs in the final at Niaz Stadium, thanks to an unbeaten 200 by skipper Moin Khan, the ex-Pakistan captain, and Faisal Iqbal’s 145.

The Harbour outfit faces their city rivals Karachi Urban in the Gold League’s opening round fixture at the National Stadium. The other matches in this group starting on Saturday are Lahore Shalimar versus Faisalabad at the Gaddafi Stadium and the much-anticipated clash between Rawalpindi and Peshawar at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Shoaib Akhtar, the Pakistan fast bowler who many believed was deliberately not considered for the current tour of South Africa, gets his opportunity to prove his critics wrong when he takes the field for Rawalpindi. The national selectors will surely keep a close watch on the 31-year-old’s progress.

Multan, who finished bottom of the Gold League in the previous season, start their Silver League campaign against Quetta at the picturesque Multan Cricket Stadium.

The 13 teams in the two tiers have a lot of incentives to play for. Winner of a match in the Gold League’s preliminary round stands to earn Rs100,000 as win bonus. The team winning the Feb 19-23 final would receive Rs600,000 with half of that amount going to the runners-up. The best performers (batsman, bowler, fielder, wicket-keeper and the man-of-the-final) in the tournament will pocket Rs40,000 each.

The Silver League champions are set to be richer by Rs300,000 with the runners-up of the Feb 7-11 final getting Rs150,000. The best players in the five specified categories will each get Rs20,000. In addition, teams winning in the preliminary round will scoop home Rs50,000 win bonus per match.

Schedule:

Gold League

Jan 6-9: Karachi Harbour v Karachi Urban at National Stadium, Karachi; Lahore Shalimar v Faisalabad at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; Rawalpindi v Peshawar at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Jan 12-15: Karachi Urban v Peshawar at National Stadium, Karachi; Rawalpindi v Karachi Harbour at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium; Sialkot v Faisalabad at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot.

Jan 18-21: Karachi Urban v Lahore Shalimar at National Stadium, Karachi; Peshawar v Karachi Harbour at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar; Rawalpindi v Sialkot at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Jan 24-27: Faisalabad v Rawalpindi at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; Lahore Shalimar v Karachi Harbour at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore; Peshawar v Sialkot at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar.

Feb 1-4: Karachi Urban v Rawalpindi at National Stadium, Karachi; Faisalabad v Peshawar at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; Sialkot v Lahore Shalimar at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot.

Feb 7-10: Karachi Harbour v Faisalabad at National Stadium, Karachi; Lahore Shalimar v Rawalpindi at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium; Sialkot v Karachi Urban at Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot.

Feb 13-16: Karachi Harbour v Sialkot at National Stadium, Karachi; Faisalabad v Karachi Urban at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad; Peshawar v Lahore Shalimar at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar.

Feb 19-23: Final (venue to be decided).

Silver League

Jan 6-9: Hyderabad v Lahore Ravi at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad; Islamabad v Abbottabad at Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad; Multan v Quetta at Multan Cricket Stadium.

Jan 12-15: Hyderabad v Abbottabad at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad; Islamabad v Quetta at Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad; Lahore Ravi v Multan at LCCA Ground, Lahore.

Jan 18-21: Abbottabad v Quetta at KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi; Lahore Ravi v Islamabad at LCCA Ground, Lahore; Multan v Hyderabad at Multan Cricket Stadium.

Jan 24-27: Islamabad v Hyderabad at Mirpur Cricket Stadium; Lahore Ravi v Quetta at LCCA Ground, Lahore; Multan v Abbottabad at Multan Cricket Stadium.

Feb 1-4: Hyderabad v Quetta at Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad; Islamabad v Multan at Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad; Lahore Ravi v Abbottabad at LCCA Ground. Lahore.

Feb 7-11: Final (venue to be decided).