February 28, 2008	Thursday	Safar 20 ,1429

KARACHI, Feb 27: Sindh will be eying the top spot on the Pentangular Cup’s table when they face Balochistan in the four-day fixture starting here at the National Stadium from Thursday.

Having defeated NWFP by five wickets after conceding the first-innings lead in a hard-fought match a fortnight ago, Sindh are firm favourites to earn maximum nine points against Balochistan who succumbed to a crushing innings and 212-run thrashing at the hands of current leaders Federal Areas.

After that three-day debacle here at the National Stadium, Balochistan will be hard pressed to put a better show in their second appearance in the tournament against the formidable Sindh side, led by Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi.

Meanwhile, NWFP, captained by Pakistan batting star Younis Khan, head into their game against Federal Areas in Peshawar in a positive frame of mind since they took the first-innings points against the Punjab in the drawn match which ended on Monday.

Federal Areas’ Sohail Tanvir is keen to repeat his grand performance against Balochistan against whom the Pakistan all-rounder not only picked up eight wickets in the game, but also blasted a career-best 132.

Schedule (Feb 28-March 2):

Sindh v Balochistan at National Stadium, Karachi (Umpires: Salim Badar and Ahsan Raza; match referee: Naeem Ahmed).

NWFP v Federal Areas at Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar (Umpires: Nadeem Ghauri and Ahmed Shahab; match referee: Abdul Sami Khan).