KARACHI: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) moved into the Gold League final of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship after a dreary draw against Port Qasim Authority (PQA) in the 10th-round clash at the National Stadium here on Tuesday.

Despite not even taking any point, since PQA took the first-innings lead, SNGPL retained their berth at the top of the standings with 63 points to leave PQA and National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) slugging it for the other spot when those teams meet in the last-round tie at the NBP Sports Complex from Friday.

By securing three points, PQA remain second with 59 points, while NBP kept alive their title aspirations after sealing a nine-wicket win against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at their home ground in Clifton to take tally of points to 56.

On the fourth and final day, SNGPL opted to kill the match by aimlessly batting on and on until they had amassed 539-3 after resuming their overnight second innings at 181-1. Left-handed opener Naeemuddin continued his excellent form by remaining unbeaten on 211, skipper Azhar Ali struck 154 and Ali Waqas retired hurt after scoring 104.

Naeemuddin, the leading run-getter in the championship with 977, reached three figures for the fifth time this season. By the time he came off the field he had adorned 408-ball knock with 27 fours and one six.

Azhar, who put on 277 in 342 minutes for the second wicket with Naeemuddin, fell to slow left-armer Azam Hussain after striking 16 boundaries during his 258-ball innings. The left-handed Ali’s first century (off 141 balls) this season was laced with 11 fours and one six.

NBP romped to a much-needed fifth victory after quickly taking the remaining three wickets that ZTBL lost on Tuesday before scoring the required 70 runs. Slow left-armer Mohammad Asghar had match figures of nine for 146 in 56 overs.

Makeshift opener Zohaib Khan, however, provided the struggling ZTBL some consolation by carrying his bat in the second innings with an unconquered 64 (170 balls, seven boundaries).

Islamabad Leopards ran out emphatic winners by 303 by bowling Multan Tigers for 205 in their second innings at the Multan Cricket Stadium

Shahzaib Ahmed Khan struck a goldmine at the Arabian Sea Country Club as Karachi Dolphins whipped Peshawar Panthers by 10 wickets on the penultimate day of their fixture that started on Sunday after the match-switch controversy.

On a sporting track the 23-year-old Shahzaib — who has come of age this season in an emphatic manner while attracting the attention of the national selectors — bettered his career-best figures for the second time in the same fixture. The leg-spinner captured eight wickets for 122 in 40.2 overs to improve on his first innings’ return of 6-26 and end up with match bag of 14 for 148 in 50.2 overs.

The Panthers put up a much improved display in the second innings after being hustled out for 86 in the first. They reached 307 after having begun the day at 56-1. Opener Ashfaq Ahmed scored 96 (136 balls, 11 fours and two sixes) and skipper Akbar Badshah 64 (156 balls, four boundaries).

Needing only 57, Majid Khan (32) and Fazal Subhan (25) got the runs in just 7.2 overs as the Dolphins celebrated their third win in the championship.

Scores and results on Tuesday (final day of four):

At National Stadium, Karachi: Match drawn.

SNGPL 278 in 91.2 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 105, Ali Waqas 56, Imran Butt 51, Azhar Ali 34; Sohail Khan 5-124, Abdur Rauf 2-49) and 539-3 in 144 overs (Naeemuddin 211 not out Azhar Ali 154, Ali Waqas 104 retired hurt; Azam Hussain 2-173); PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 307 in 102 overs (Umar Amin 60, Daniyal Ahsan 55, Khalid Latif 51, Faraz Ali 41, Mohammad Waqas 30, Khurram Manzoor 25; Yasir Shah 4-110, Asad Ali 3-76).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: Match drawn.

UNITED BANK 277 in 103.1 overs (Ali Asad 91, Mohammad Wajihuddin 55 not out, Umair Khan 35; Mohammad Irfan 6-60, Azhar Attari 3-72) and 284-9 declared in 126.3 overs (Ali Asad 150 not out, Mohammad Ali 26; Azhar Attari 5-52, Khalid Usman 2-79); WAPDA 212 in 83 overs (Waqas Maqsood 43 not out, Adnan Raees 35, Ali Azmat 29; Rumman Raees Khan 6-70, Mohammad Ali 3-38) and 175-3 in 31 overs (Aamir Sajjad 62 not out, Ayaz Tasawwar 59 not out, Adnan Raees 40).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: National Bank beat ZTBL by nine wickets.

ZTBL 323 in 113.2 overs (Shahid Yousuf 115, Yasir Hameed 59, Sharjeel Khan 43, Ammar Mahmood 39, Zohaib Khan 38; Mohammad Asghar 5-89, Zia-ul-Haq 3-81) and 162 in 59 overs (Zohaib Khan 52 not out, Yasir Hameed 32, Kashif Daud 25; Mohammad Asghar 4-57, Zia-ul-Haq 2-28, Mohammad Nawaz 2-38); NATIONAL BANK 416-9 declared in 64 overs (Fawad Alam 164, Mohammad Nawaz 102, Usman Qadir 40, Akbar-ur-Rehman 31, Ahmed Jamal 25; Sajjad Hussain 4-83, Rao Iftikhar 2-62) and 70-1 n 18.2 overs (Mohammad Nawaz 33 not out).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: Islamabad Leopards beat Multan Tigers by 303 runs.

ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS 54 in 14.1 overs (Mohammad Asif 8-19, Sadaif Mehdi 2-24) and 575 in 138.3 overs (Imad Wasim 207, Faizan Riaz 158, Ali Sarfraz 71, Salman Haider 36, Sarmad Bhatti 26; Sadaif Mehdi 5-158, Mohammad Asif 4-151); MULTAN TIGERS 121 in 35 overs (Gulraiz Sadaf 24; Hamza Nadeem 4-41, Zohaib Ahmed 4-51) and 205 in 53.3 overs (Gulraiz Sadaf 74, Kashif Naved 60; Zohaib Ahmed 6-80, Hamza Nadeem 4-77).

At Arabian Sea Country Club, Karachi (day three): Karachi Dolphins beat Peshawar Panthers by 10 wickets.

PESHAWAR PANTHERS 86 in 30.3 overs (Musadiq Ahmed 27; Shahzaib Ahmed Khan 6-24, Mir Hamza 3-35) and 307 in 100.2 overs (Ashfaq Ahmed 96, Akbar Badshah 64, Israrullah 41, Adil Amin 35; Shahzaib Ahmed Khan 8-122); KARACHI DOLPHINS 340 in 129.2 overs (Babar Hussain Agha 82, Yasir Mushtaq 60, Mohammad Waqas 38, Majid Khan 37, Fazal Subhan 32; Aimal Khan 3-77, Azizullah 2-57) and 57-0 in 7.2 overs (Majid Khan 32 not out, Fazal Subhan 25 not out).

Published in Dawn December 10th , 2014