February 13, 2007	Tuesday	Muharram 24, 1428

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KARACHI, Feb 12: Sialkot, Karachi Urban, Faisalabad and Peshawar are in contention for next week’s Gold League final of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship at the start of last round of matches from Tuesday.

Sialkot, the reigning champions who lead the standings, face Karachi Harbour, who lost to Faisalabad in the previous round by innings.

Karachi Urban, who are second in the table, take on Faisalabad in a match which was originally scheduled for Faisalabad, but now has been shifted to UBL Sports Complex here for unspecified reasons.

Apart from the fact that Karachi Urban will be playing on ‘home’ territory, they are expected to be bolstered by return of Test batsmen Asim Kamal and Faisal Iqbal in this crucial tie.

Despite losing three of the five matches, Peshawar still have an outside chance of making the Feb 19-23 final, provided they secure all nine points against bottom-placed Lahore Shalimar and expect other results to go their way.

Schedule (Feb 13-16):

Gold League: Karachi Harbour v Sialkot at National Stadium, Karachi; Faisalabad v Karachi Urban at UBL Sports Complex, Karachi; Peshawar v Lahore Shalimar at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar.

Standings

(Tabulated under played, won, lost, drawn, points):

Sialkot 5 3 0 2 24

Karachi Urban 5 3 1 1 24

Rawalpindi 6 2 2 2 21

Faisalabad 5 2 2 1 18

Peshawar 5 2 3 0 18

Karachi Harbour 5 1 3 1 12

Lahore Shalimar 5 0 2 3 6