KARACHI: Rawalpindi Rams jumped to sixth place in the Gold League standings of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship after completing a swift victory over Multan Tigers in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

On the penultimate day of the four-day tie at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, the Tigers capitulated for 192 while chasing 265 to remain rooted at the bottom with six defeats in eight matches.

The surprise wrecker-in-chief was Rashid Latif, the 40-year-old paceman who captured five wickets for 67 runs in 18 overs.

Rashid, who has returned to first-class arena after two seasons, finished with match haul of 9-89 in 31 overs. Haseeb Azam was the other main wicket-taker on Wednesday with 4-70 in 21.2 overs.

Earlier, the Rams added only eight more runs to their Tuesday’s second-innings tally of 189-8 before being dismissed for 197.

With this third win in the championship the Rams now have 27 points.

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), currently on top of the standings with 51 points from six wins in seven games, were eyeing another favourable result as Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) closed at 59-1 after being set a daunting target of 423 at the Marghazar Cricket Ground in Islamabad.

SNGPL, who opted against enforcing the follow on, declared their second innings at 254-4 with skipper Adnan Akmal, Ali Waqas and Khurram Shehzad all passing 50.

Islamabad Leopards could celebrate only their second victory of the season on Thursday’s last day after Peshawar Panthers were forced to bat again after they were all out for 251 in reply to the visitors’ 402 at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.

By close of play, the home side had lost three second-innings’ wickets for 126 runs.

Title aspirants National Bank plundered 121-2 in 19 overs of their second innings after taking a lead of 141 on the first by bowling out United Bank for 310 at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad.

Discarded Pakistan wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal led the assault with an unbeaten 72 in a 98-ball knock including 12 fours.

Earlier, Ali Asad deservedly reached his 10th first-class century. The ex-Pakistan U-19 left-hander, who was batting on 74 on Tuesday evening, contributed a fine 129 off 260 balls with 15 boundaries.

Slow left-armer Raza Hasan strengthened his chances of being named in the limited-overs squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand by taking 4-58 in 30.1 overs.

Despite taking a 101-run lead on the first innings, Port Qasim Authority (PQA) struggled to 39-2 against Wapda at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Wapda were all out for 278 after starting the day at 111-3. Aamir Sajjad struck 103 — the 33-year-old right-hander’s 14th ton at first-class level — while hitting 17 boundaries during his 192-ball innings.

Abdur Rauf, the 35-year-old paceman who played three Tests, four ODIs and one T20 in a brief international career, bagged a remarkable fifth five-for in the ongoing season. He finished with six for 52 in 24 overs to extend his haul to 36 in his sixth appearance in the tournament.

Close of play scores and result on Wednesday (day three of four):

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 379 in 118.3 overs (Daniyal Ahsan 122 not out, Mohammad Sami 75, Azam Hussain 49, Shahzaib Hasan 38, Khalid Latif 31, Sohail Khan 25; Mohammad Ali Bhutta 3-63, Azhar Attari 3-117, Mohammad Haseeb 2-95) and 39-2 in 18 overs; WATER AND POWER DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 278 in 97.1 overs (Aamir Sajjad 103, Khalid Usman 38, Adnan Raees 32; Abdur Rauf 6-52, Sohail Khan 3-99).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Rawalpindi Rams beat Multan Tigers by 72 runs.

RAWALPINDI RAMS 137 in 44.1 overs (Zahid Mansoor 40, Usman Saeed 29; Majid Ali 5-46, Mohammad Asif 3-41, Mohammad Irfan 2-44) and 197 in 53 overs (Usman Saeed 67, Mohammad Asif 4-70, Mohammad Irfan 3-45); MULTAN TIGERS 70 in 45 overs (Ammar Ali 23; Rashid Latif 4-22, Haseeb Azam 2-16, Rizwan Akbar 2-25) and 192 in 54.2 overs (Kashif Naved 62, Gulraiz Sadaf 34, Majid Ali 26; Rashid Latif 5-67, Haseeb Azam 4-70).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: NATIONAL BANK 451-9 declared in 120.3 overs (Umar Waheed 120, Mohammad Nawaz 98, Raza Hasan 57, Usman Qadir 52, Kamran Akmal 24; Ali Zahid 4-119, Adil Raza 2-94) and 121-2 in 19 overs (Kamran Akmal 72 not out; Adil Raza 2-30); UNITED BANK 310 in 118.1 overs (Ali Asad 129, Umair Khan 76, Naved Sarwar 57; Raza Hasan 4-58, Zia-ul-Haq 3-68, Usman Qadir 2-19).

At Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad: SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LIMITED 306 in 101.5 overs (Khurram Shehzad 109, Ali Waqas 47, Bilawal Bhatti 41, Naeemuddin 29; Sajjad Hussain 3-69, Karamat Ali 2-36, Rao Iftikhar 2-84, Rehan Riaz 2-87) and 254-4 declared in 68 overs (Adnan Akmal 75, Khurram Shehzad 52 not out, Ali Waqas 50 not out, Imran Butt 35, Naeemuddin 26; Sajjad Hussain 2-23); ZARAI TARAQIATI BANK LIMITED 138 in 34 overs (Karamat Ali 26 not out; Bilawal Bhatti 3-31, Samiullah Khan Niazi 3-48, Ahmed Safi Abdullah 2-1) and 59-1 in 24 overs.

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS 402 in 135.1 overs (Faizan Riaz 114, Mohammad Irfan 99, Ali Sarfraz 67, Zohaib Ahmed 29, Sarmad Bhatti 25; Taj Wali 4-115, Azizullah 3-109, Jibran Khan 2-75); PESHAWAR PANTHERS 251 in 90.1 overs (Azizullah 59, Akbar Badshah 37, Adil Amin 33, Mehran Ibrahim 31, Jamaluddin 31; Zohaib Ahmed 3-40, Imad Wasim 3-44, Shehzad Azam Rana 2-55) and 126-3 in 27.3 overs (Israrullah 54, Musadiq Ahmed 35 not out).

Published in Dawn, November 27th , 2014