KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were just two wickets away from reaching the Gold League final of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship after their opponents Port Qasim Authority (PQA) reached 289-8 on the penultimate day of the four-day tie here on Monday.

Chasing a daunting 438 at the NBP Sports Complex, PQA lost far too many wickets to their liking for a win that would have steered them to the title-decider against already-qualified Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL).

But NBP, currently three points behind second-placed PQA, had outplayed Rashid Latif’s charges in no uncertain terms from day one. After having earned a substantial 158-run lead on the first innings, it is virtually a one-way traffic with PQA nowhere in sight.

On Tuesday (final day), PQA still need 149 with only two wickets in hand.

Not even Daniyal Ahsan’s second first-class hundred was enough as PQA lost wickets in two heaps. At the start they were three down for 58 before Daniyal and Umar Amin added 179 for the fourth wicket. But once they departed, so did PQA’s hopes.

While Daniyal scored a 229-ball 102 with 13 boundaries, left-handed Umar made 81 from 222 deliveries studded with six fours.

Mohammad Nawaz, the part-time slow left-armer who tormented PQA with 7-31 in the first innings, was again to the fore with 4-56 in 23 overs. Fellow southpaw Mohammad Asghar took two, including the prized scalp of Daniyal, while off-spinner Adnan Rasool also bagged a brace with Umar being dismissed by him in both innings.

Karachi Dolphins and Islamabad Leopards both finished their campaigns on a high by defeating Rawalpindi Rams and Lahore Lions, respectively.

The Dolphins skittled the Rams, who were 48-1 overnight in pursuit of a 238-run target, for 117 on the final day of their game which started on Friday at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad.

Mir Hamza, an upcoming left-arm paceman, was the wrecker-in-chief with six for 41 — the 22-year-old’s sixth five-for this season — to finish the championship with 58 wickets (ave 17.43) in 11 matches, including the match bag of 9-99 against the Rams.

The Leopards upstaged the Lions by five wickets at the National Stadium thanks to Ali Sarfraz’s maiden first-class century. The 26-year-old left-hander struck an undefeated 112 (152 balls, 16 fours) as the Leopards reached the target of 271 comfortably on day three.

Faizan Riaz (51 off 50, nine fours) and Sarmad Bhatti (53 off 90, eight boundaries) also made important contributions while assisting Ali in partnerships of 94 and 108, respectively after the Leopards had slumped to 62-3.

Earlier, the Lions lost their last five second-innings wickets for only 25 runs after reaching 300-5 from the overnight position of 251-5.

In the other two remaining matches, ZTBL were 83-4 while chasing 284 against United Bank at the UBL Sports Complex, while Peshawar Panthers are on the verge of innings win after Multan Tigers were forced to follow on at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

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

At National Stadium, Karachi: Islamabad Leopards bt Lahore Lions by five wickets.

LAHORE LIONS 149 in 41.3 overs (Umar Siddique 41, Saad Nasim 36; Zohaib Ahmed 5-66, Hamza Nadeem 3-56, Mudassar Ali 2-27) and 325 in 86.5 overs (Umar Siddique 113, Raza Ali Dar 56, Farhan Khan 52, Waqas Saleem 47; Zohaib Ahmed 3-55, Sarmad Bhatti 2-37, Mudassar Ali 2-68, Hamza Nadeem 2-90); ISLAMABAD LEOPARDS 204 in 54.1 overs (Imad Wasim 40, Sarmad Bhatti 37, Ali Sarfraz 28; Mohammad Saeed 6-66, Aftab Azwar 3-54) and 271-5 in 57.5 overs (Ali Sarfraz 112 not out, Sarmad Bhatti 53, Faizan Riaz 51; Mohammad Saeed 2-50).

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: NATIONAL BANK 249 in 72.1 overs (Akbar-ur-Rehman 72, Bilal Qureshi 62, Qaiser Abbas 41, Bilal Munir 25; Tabish Nawab 5-65, Sohail Khan 3-61) and 279 in 62.4 overs (Qaiser Abbas 111, Kamran Akmal 36, Adnan Rasool 36, Akbar-ur-Rehman 31; Tabish Nawab 5-156, Shahzaib Hasan 2-9, Kamran Younis 2-30); PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 91 in 38.1 overs (Shahzaib Hasan 46; Mohammad Nawaz 7-31, Mohammad Asghar 2-49) and 289-8 in 107 overs (Daniyal Ahsan 102, Umar Amin 81; Mohammad Nawaz 4-56, Adnan Rasool 2-69, Mohammad Asghar 2-113).

At UBL Sports Complex, Karachi: UNITED BANK 254 in 83.2 overs (Ammar Hasan 90, Naved Sarwar 47, Ali Asad 43; Kashif Daud 7-30, Haseeb-ur-Rehman 2-20) and 214 in 80.4 overs (Ali Zahid 55, Umair Khan 43, Ahsan Ali 28; Karamat Ali 4-48, Haseeb-ur-Rehman 3-19, Sajjad Hussain 2-45); ZTBL 185 in 73.2 overs (Haseeb-ur-Rehman 45, Ammar Mahmood 35; Rumman Raees Khan 4-49, Ali Zahid 3-32) and 83-4 in 30 overs (Zohaib Khan 25 not out, Shahid Yousuf 23 not out; Ali Zahid 3-17).

At Multan Cricket Stadium, Multan: PESHAWAR PANTHERS 403 in 114.3 overs (Aimal Khan 113 not out, Akbar Badshah 76, Mehran Ibrahim 63; Majid Ali 6-92, Mohammad Asif 2-109); MULTAN TIGERS 113-8 in 35.4 overs (Kashif Naved 45, Gulraiz Sadaf 43; Azizullah 7-52, Taj Wali 3-38) and 208-8 in 61 overs (Abdul Rehman Muzammil 76 not out, Ahmed Rasheed 28, Mohammad Ashfaq 27; Taj Wali 4-76, Azizullah 2-42).

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad (final day of four): Karachi Dolphins bt Rawalpindi Rams by 120 runs.

KARACHI DOLPHINS 325 in 91.2 overs (Mohammad Waqas 129, Yasir Mushtaq 62, Babar Hussain Agha 53; Haseeb Azam 4-67, Rizwan Akbar 4-113, Tayyab Abbas 2-77) and 165 in 65 overs (Faraz Ahmed Khan 62, Majid Khan 39, Mohammad Hasan 26 not out; Haseeb Azam 6-52, Rizwan Akbar 4-51); RAWALPINDI RAMS 253 in 73 overs (Yasim Murtaza 58 not out, Aaqib Shah 39, Babar Rehman 5-67, Mir Hamza 3-58) and 117 in 45.3 overs (Aaqib Shah 25; Mir Hamza 6-41, Babar Rehman 3-27).

Published in Dawn December 16th , 2014