October 09, 2008	Thursday	Shawwal 9, 1429

KARACHI, Oct 8: Karachi Port Trust (KPT) drew 2-2 with Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) edged past Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) 5-4 when the Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) resumed in the city after the Ramazan and Eid-ul-Fitr break.

In the first match, played at the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) Stadium, KESC were 2-0 at interval thanks to their striker Sohail Nawaz (33rd minute) and winger Aftab Ahmed (40th minute). KPT’s goalkeeper Abdul Ghani proved ineffective on both accounts.

But KPT caught on in the second session with help from their midfielder Abdul Rehman. Both KPT’s skipper Naseer Ahmed (62nd minute) and striker Zafar Majeed (86th minute) managed to convert Rehman’s well-timed passes to draw the match.

In the other encounter between the equally-matched NBP and PIA outfits at the Korangi Baloch Stadium, PIA too took a 2-0 lead in the early moments. Scoring was opened in the second minute alone through a header by their midfielder Waseem.

The 18th minute saw striker Shakir Lashari score his eight goal in the tournament, also through a header off winger Nazeer Ahmed’s pass.

The bankers came back into the game in the 29th minute when their striker Jameel Ahmed scored off a pass from fellow striker Mohammad Ashraf followed by another by Ashraf himself in the 45th minute.

The score at interval was 2-2.

The second session saw five more goals being scored. NBP were awarded a penalty kick in the 46th minute which their striker Abdul Aziz easily converted to make the score 3-2.

Parity was restored by PIA’s Mohammad Hanif in the 57th minute but NBP changed the score to 4-3 in the 65th minute through Jameel. But PIA equalled again in the 86th minute through Abdul Ghaffar. The match would have surely ended in a draw had it not been for Jameel’s hat-trick, the match-winner, coming in the 89th minute of play.

Both sides were playing without their regular keepers — Amir Gul (NBP) and Bilal Rafiq (PIA) — who are with the Pakistan team in Malaysia for Friday’s friendly match at the Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

There will be no matches on Thursday.

Friday’s fixtures: Habib Bank Limited v Afghan FC (Peoples Sports Complex, Karachi, at 2.00pm), KESC v PIA (Peoples Sports Complex, Karachi, at 4.00pm), KPT v Pakistan Steel (CDGK Stadium, Karachi, at 4.00pm).