KARACHI: Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) got through to the quarter-finals of the National Challenge Cup after easing to comfortable victories on Saturday.

PAF were rampant in their 8-0 thrashing of Bahawalpur district side with Irfan Ali scoring four times while NBP cruised to a 2-0 victory over Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Group ‘C’ action in Bahawalpur.

Irfan scored twice in a two-minute spell in the first-half before Arif Nawaz added another to put PAF 3-0 up by the end of the first-half.

Three minutes into the second-half, Irfan completed his hat-trick before scoring his fourth ten minutes later.

PAF captain Mohammad Mujahid made it 6-0 fifteen minutes from time with Arif scoring his second in the 78th before Rafiullah completed the rout in the 87th.

In the other match, Faisal Iqbal opened the scoring for NBP on the half-hour mark before Farooq Shah added the second a minute from time.

NBP and PAF both have six points and meet on Monday to decide which team progresses as winners from the group.

On Friday night, Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) and Wapda secured a place in the quarter-finals after registering their second straight victories in Group ‘B’.

Two goals in the space of four minutes by defender Omar Farooq helped KESC to a comeback 2-1 win over Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC).

Imran’s 19th minute goal had given SSGC the lead but Omar’s quick-fire double after he scored in the 64th and the 68th, secured all three points for KESC who now play Wapda on Sunday to decide which team wins the group.

Wapda, meanwhile, prevailed over Pakistan Police courtesy Mohammad Ahmed’s 53rd-minute strike.Also on Sunday, Pakistan Army are in a must-win situation against Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) if they are to progress to the last-eight of the competition.

Sunday’s fixtures:

Group ‘B’: Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) v Wapda; Pakistan Police v Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC).

Group ‘C’: Bhatti United v National Youth Unter-18; Pakistan Army v PIA.