KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Port Qasim Authority (PQA), as expected, scored comfortable victories in their Gold League matches of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship on Tuesday.

Discarded Pakistan fast bowler Sohail Khan played a pivotal role in PQA defeating Multan Tigers by 179 runs at the Multan Cricket Stadium with a match bag of 10 wickets as the hosts added only 129 runs to their overnight tally of 14-2.

The 30-year-old Sohail, who played two Tests and five One-day Internationals between 2009 and 2011, captured six wickets for 81 runs in 16 overs to bowl the Tigers for 143.

Mohammad Sami, another Pakistan reject, claimed 2-36 in 11 overs while slow left-armer Azam Hussain took 2-16 in 5.3 overs.

NBP beat Rawalpindi Rams by nine wickets at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi after the host avoided being humiliated by innings.

Starting the fourth and final day at 147-4, the Rams eventually reached 201 all out with the overnight opener Shoaib Nasir falling four short of what could had been the 31-year-old right-hander’s fourth first-class century. Shoaib, who also top-scored in the first innings with 55, struck 14 boundaries during his 1684-ball effort of 96.

Left-arm paceman Zia-u-Haq bagged four wickets for 51 runs to end up with match figures of 8-101. Rangy fast bowler Ahmed Jamal took 3-50.

Requiring 40 for their first victory in the championship this season, NBP got home in the 17th over for loss of Mohammad Nawaz’s wicket.

Meanwhile in the game that concludes on Wednesday, Karachi Dolphins rode on four half-centuries to give themselves a good chance of upsetting the depleted Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) here at the National Stadium.

After taking a narrow two-run lead on the first innings the previous evening, the Dolphins began day three at 41-0 and didn’t lose their first wicket until after lunch as Majid Khan and Fazal Subhan shared a magnificent opening partnership of 171 in 227 minutes.

Fazal fell 10 short of completing a fourth hundred in his first-class career when he tried to hit slow left-armer Imran Khalid against the spin. His 90 from 157 balls included 12 fours and one six.

Majid, the 22-year-old right-hander, registered a maiden 50-plus score on his fourth appearance in first-class cricket before he was caught close in off Imran for a 168-ball 79 (10 boundaries).

Skipper Rameez Raja threw away his wicket after making only 10 but the left-handed Saad Ali, the hero of the first innings with a brilliant 105, and Babar Hussain Agha put on 104 in 98 minutes to put the match beyond SNGPL’s reach.

Babar batted enterprisingly to hit an 86-ball 54 (five fours) before he was caught behind off paceman Asad Ali but the talented Saad wasn’t dismissed until he had reached 73 off 126 balls (11 boundaries) while adding 59 for the fifth wicket with Faraz Ahmed Khan (40 not out).

Imran snared four wickets for 134 runs in 37 overs.

Close of play scores and results on Tuesday (final day of four):

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: Port Qasim Authority beat Multan Tigers by 179 runs.

PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 324 in 94.5 overs (Umar Amin 103, Faraz Ali 73, Mohammad Salman 40; Majid Ali 4-74, Mohammad Rameez 3-71, Shahbaz Hasan 2-72) and 253 in 64.2 overs (Khurram Manzoor 67, Shahzaib Hasan 60; Mohammad Rameez 5-102, Majid Ali 3-51); MULTAN TIGERS 255 in 75.4 overs (Usman Liaquat 61, Kashif Naved 52; Sohail Khan 4-69, Azam Hussain 4-70, Mohammad Sami 2-42) and 143 in 32.3 overs (Shahzad Ali 39; Sohail Khan 6-81, Azam Hussain 2-26, Mohammad Sami 2-36).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: National Bank beat Rawalpindi Rams by nine wickets.

RAWALPINDI RAMS 282 in 90.4 overs (Shoaib Nasir 55, Naved Malik 53, Usman Saeed 48; Zia-ul-Haq 4-50, Adnan Rasool 3-100, Hammad Azam 2-18) and 201 in 63.1 overs (Shoaib Nasir 96, Zahid Mansoor 50; Zia-ul-Haq 4-51, Ahmed Jamal 3-50, Hammaduddin 2-18); NATIONAL BANK 444 in 110.1 overs (Fawad Alam 201, Hammad Azam 60; Haseeb Azam 3-75, Yasim Murtaza 2-72, Abid Hussain 2-102, Rizwan Akbar 2-106) and 40-1 in 16.2 overs (Bilal Qureshi 22 not out).

At National Stadium, Karachi (day three): KARACHI DOLPHINS 205 in 73.3 overs (Saad Ali 105; Asad Ali 4-48, Imran Khalid 3-63) and 365-5 in 105 overs (Fazal Subhan 90, Majid Khan 79, Saad Ali 73, Babar Hussain Agha 54, Faraz Ahmed Khan 40 not out; Imran Khalid 4-134); SNGPL 203 in 82.1 overs (Umar Akmal 42, Imran Butt 38; Shahzaib Ahmed Khan 6-67, Adeel Malik 2-35).

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2014