KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) set up a Silver League semi-final clash against each other after recording contrasting victories in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship on Tuesday.

On the penultimate day of the four-day quarter-finals, PIA, as expected, completed a six-wicket defeat of Bahawalpur Stags at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.

Resuming at 93-4 in pursuit of 130, PIA duly got the remaining runs without losing either of the Iqbal brothers who together put on 85 for the unbroken fifth-wicket partnership.

Faisal was the dominant partner with an enterprising 55-ball 52 featuring 10 boundaries, while his younger sibling Fahad contributed 38 off 68 balls with five fours.

SBP were simply clinical in thrashing Khan Research Laboratories by an innings and 47 runs at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad in. The match was dominated by the victorious skipper Usman Salahuddin.

Usman, once ranked among one of the brightest batting prospects, struck an unbeaten 154 in a marathon stay of 465 minutes as SBP piled up 394 all out in reply to KRL’s inadequate first-innings total of 176.

The 23-year-old right-hander, who was batting on 135 at stumps on Monday, faced 332 balls and hit 15 fours.

Starting their second innings 218 behind, KRL lasted 48.1 overs when they were dismissed for 171.

England-born Bilal Shafayat chalked up his maiden first-class double century as Habib Bank rallied brilliantly to put themselves in sight of victory against Hyderabad Hawks at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

The 30-year-old right-handed batsman, who represented England in U-19 internationals, reached an undefeated 201 (257 balls, 30 boundaries) to help Habib Bank make 423-5 declared. Rameez Aziz hit 80 (103 balls, nine fours and one six) while adding 180 for the unbroken sixth wicket.

The Hawks, who led on the first innings by 138, stumbled to 19-2 after set 286 for a place in the semi-final.

Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) were also on verge of completing an emphatic win over Pakistan Television (PTV) after the latter ended the day on 50-2 in pursuit of 418-run target at the National Cricket Ground in Islamabad.

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

Quarter-finals:

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: Pakistan International Airlines bt Bahawalpur Stags by six wickets.

BAHAWALPUR STAGS 137 in 38.5 overs (Moinuddin 49, Adeel Basit 23; Kamran Sajid 4-14, Najaf Shah 3-61, Hazrat Shah 2-25) and 96 in 38 overs (Faisal Mubashir 29; Kamran Sajid 4-24, Najaf Shah 4-30; PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES 104 in 41.1 overs (Fahad Iqbal 27; Ansar Javed 4-32, Zahir Siddiqui 4-37) and 132-4 in 36.2 overs (Faisal Iqbal 52 not out, Fahad Iqbal 38 not out; Zahir Siddiqui 3-46).

At Mirpur Cricket Stadium, Mirpur: HABIB BANK LIMITED 128 in 43.1 overs (Rameez Aziz 49, Abdur Rehman 28; Mir Ali Talpur 5-39, Naeem-ur-Rehman 3-25) and 423-5 declared in 21 overs (Bilal Shafayat 201 not out, Rameez Aziz 80 not out, Aftab Khan 41, Ashiq Ali 37, Imran Farhat 34; Babar Khan 2-103, Naeem-ur-Rehman 2-109); HYDERABAD HAWKS 266 in 73.2 overs (Naeem-ur-Rehman 43, Azeem Ghumman 40, Lal Kumar 37, Zeeshan Gul 27, Faisal Athar 27, Darya Khan 24; Ashiq Ali 4-60, Abdur Rehman 4-78) and 19-2 in 6 overs.

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: State Bank of Pakistan beat Khan Research Laboratories by an innings and 47 runs.

KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES 176 in 59.4 overs (Ali Khan 36, Nauman Ali 36, Luqman Butt 28, Usman Arshad 25, Saeed Anwar Jr 23; Zafar Gohar 4-30, Rizwan Haider 4-35, Zahoor Khan 2-67) and 171 in 48.1 overs (Ali Khan 73, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 47, Zulfiqar Jan 31; Kashif Bhatti 4-45, Zafar Gohar 3-48, Rizwan Haider 2-28); STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN 394 in 106 overs (Usman Salahuddin 154 not out, Mukhtar Ahmed 61, Rizwan Haider 54, Zafar Gohar 46, Maqbool Ahmed 21; Osama Mir 4-133, Kaleem Sana 3-49, Nauman Ali 2-71).

At National Cricket Ground, Islamabad: SUI SOUTHERN GAS COMPANY 266 in 72.3 overs (Usman Tariq 64, Mohammad Waqas 51, Tariq Haroon 50, Mohammad Irfan 28 not out, Atif Maqbool 27; Waqar Ahmed 5-53, Usman Ashraf 3-52) and 373 in 90.1 overs (Awais Zia 79, Haris Ali 70, Asif Zakir 63, Atif Maqbool 31, Usman Tariq 21; Nawaz Ahmed 3-60, Mohammad Kashif 2-38, Ali Raza 2-43, Mohammad Abbas 2-83); PAKISTAN TELEVISION 222 in 67.5 overs (Hasan Raza Jr 59, Mohammad Kashif 45, Usman Ashraf 32, Ali Raza 22; Atif Maqbool 6-82, Tabish Khan 2-47) and 50-2 in 14 overs.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014