KARACHI: With just four rounds left in the Gold League of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship, the race for the top places has already began to intensify as the big guns eye next month’s final.

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL) will take on Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) in their eight-round fixture at the Marghazar Cricket Ground in Islamabad with a an advantage of seven points at the top of the standings.

Port Qasim Authority (PQA) and National Bank currently have 44 points apiece to occupy second and third places, respectively. Wapda, who were the early leaders, have dropped down the pecking order to fourth with 36 points with United Bank fifth a further four points behind.

Karachi Dolphins have just started to warm up to their task. An emphatic win over Multan Tigers in just over two days have put the regional side into sixth spot with 25 points, while ZTBL are struggling at seventh place with a modest tally of 19.

With the bottom departmental team to be demoted to the second-tier Silver League competition next season, ZTBL can hardly ill-afford to lose more points if they hope to finish at least fifth to survive the drop since 13 points separate them and United Bank.

ZTBL’s task against SNGPL won’t be easy although with the weather in the northern parts of the country changing dramatically with temperatures on the lower side, the toss would definitely have a big say to start with.

Despite the much-trumpeted Umar Akmal not firing at all in the championship (a grand tally of 146 runs from 11 innings at 13.27) and the big names on international duty, SNGPL have still managed to sustain themselves under the shrewd guidance of their head coach Basit Ali, the former Pakistan batsman of the 1990s.

Since being mauled by Karachi Dolphins at the National Stadium on Oct 22, SNGPL have simply marched on relentlessly with successive victories against Lahore Lions, Islamabad Leopards, Rawalpindi Rams, Peshawar Panthers and United Bank.

National Bank were denied a chance to catch up with the leaders in the last round of matches by a dogged century from Wapda opener Iftikhar Ahmed, who struck a gallant 150 not out. The national selectors have already set their sights on the 24-year-old right-hander from Peshawar who is, by far, the most prolific batsman in the season with 736 runs at a very impressive average of 66.90 with three centuries and as many half-centuries.

His Wapda team-mates, Mohammad Ali Bhutta and Waqas Maqsood, have already shared 84 wickets in the ongoing tournament with the almost Rahat Ali-lookalike Waqas taking 41 to his new-ball partner’s 43. Only Islamabad Leopards’ opening bowler Shehzad Azam Rana is ahead of them with 46 wickets at the top of the ladder.

Schedule (Nov 24-27):

Wapda vs Port Qasim Authority (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore); Lahore Lions vs Karachi Dolphins (LCCA Ground, Lahore); Rawalpindi Rams vs Multan Tigers (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); National Bank vs United Bank (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); SNGPL vs ZTBL (Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad); Peshawar Panthers vs Islamabad Leopards (Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar).

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

SNGPL 7 6 1 0 51 Port Qasim 7 5 0 2 44 National Bank 7 4 0 3 44 Wapda 7 4 1 2 36 United Bank 7 3 2 2 32 Karachi Dolphins 7 2 3 2 25 ZTBL 7 2 2 3 19 Rawalpindi Rams 7 2 3 2 18 Islamabad Leopards 7 1 2 4 15 Peshawar Panthers 7 1 5 1 12 Multan Tigers 7 0 5 2 3 Lahore Lions 7 0 6 1 3

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2014