KARACHI: Inspired by Fawad Alam’s magnificent unbeaten double century, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were closing in on an emphatic victory over the clueless Karachi Whites in their third-round Pool ‘B’ match in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship at the National Stadium here on Wednesday.

In two fixtures ending inside three days, Pool ‘A’ leaders United Bank Limited (UBL) completed a thumping innings win against Lahore Whites and Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) bounced back to outgun Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) by 10 wickets.

NBP, who head the Pool ‘B’ standings before the start of third-round ties, have a golden opportunity of securing their second success in the championship if they manage to claim the remaining six wickets in Karachi Whites’ second innings on Thursday’s last day after the regional side had struggled to 96-4 at stumps after having conceded a decisive first-innings lead of 238 when their much superior rivals declared at 465-4 an hour after lunch.

Resuming at 251-2, NBP lost overnight centurion Umar Waheed and captain Kamran Akmal in successive overs of slow left-armer Sohaib Khan before the well-set Fawad and Akbar-ur-Rehman plundered 190 for the unfinished fifth-wicket partnership in only 152 minutes.

Umar, who began the day on 115, was caught for 125 (off 204 balls, 18 fours) to end a third-wicket stand worth 256 in 261 minutes with Fawad. Kamran, arriving with back-to-back centuries under his belt, perished for a duck when he was deceived by Sohaib.

But Fawad, who was 127 overnight, continued made good progress to reach 178 at lunch with Akbar partnering him on 66 in a total of 381-4. After the break, Fawad pressed on the accelerator to complete a thoroughly deserved third ton in first-class with an excellent pulled boundary.

By the time the declaration was made Fawad, who was hampered by a bout of cramps, had serenely moved to 224 from only 289 deliveries in a stay of 422 minutes during which he struck 32 boundaries.

As soon as Akbar got to his seventh first-class hundred, finishing on 103 off 99 balls with 14 fours, Kamran applied the closure to give his bowlers maximum time to take wickets on a pitch that looks full of runs.

But Karachi Whites refused to shed their defensive approach and soon found themselves in trouble as impressive seamer Zia-ul-Haq had Haris Ali Khan edging a simple chance to gulley for a five-ball duck. The other opener, Jaahid Ali, didn’t last much either and was caught behind off slow left-armer Mohammad Asghar. And although Mohammad Waqas (38) and Saad Ali (21 not out) added 52 for the fourth wicket, NBP looked in full command with Karachi Whites still 142 to avert an innings defeat.

Meanwhile, KRL have temporarily climbed to top spot in Pool ‘B’ with a tally of 15 points after earning six in their defeat of Fata at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.

After bowling out Fata for 99 in their second innings with paceman Mohammad Abbas capturing 5-54, giving him match haul of nine for 116, the young pair of left-handed openers, Zain Abbas (79) and Imam-ul-Haq (75) made short work of a modest chase for 161 as KRL sealed the game in 37 overs.

UBL grabbed their second win by innings when their latest victims Lahore Blues went down by an innings and 206 runs at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Hopelessly placed at 36-7 in response to UBL’s 432-5 declared on Tuesday evening, Lahore Blues were sent packing for 96 despite Agha Salman making 56. Ehsan Adil took 4-38 before Shan Masood enforced the follow on. Batting again, the regional outfit mustered 132 all out, a total that featured 46 apiece from opener Mohammad Akhlaq and Farhan Khan.

Upcoming left-arm paceman Mir Hamza claimed 4-39 before slow left-armer Yasim Murtaza snared four quick wickets in two overs to put Lahore Blues out of their misery.

Experienced Pakistan all-rounders of past and present, Yasir Arafat and Sohail Tanvir shared eight wickets between them to help Rawalpindi obtain a crucial two-run lead by dismissing Habib Bank Limited for 181 in the weather-marred game at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi where a draw is the most likely outcome.

Wapda, replying to Lahore Whites’ 344, collected 199-5 with Mohammad Saad batting on 91 at the LCCA Ground. Resuming at 324-6, the hosts could add just 20 runs as Pakistan fast bowler Junaid Khan finished with four wickets for 94 runs.

Port Qasim Authority were 47-2 after Islamabad posted a decent first-innings score of 326 at the Diamond Club Ground.

SSGC were in some bother at 117-4 after Peshawar extend their Monday’s tally of 217-6 to 246 all out following Tuesday’s washed out at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.

SNGPL took a lead of 60 runs after Hyderabad were all out for 271 in their first innings at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad. SNGPL then closed the penultimate day at 303-8 in their second innings.

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

Third round:

Pool ‘A’:

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LIMITED 331 in 78.4 overs (Taufiq Umar 67, Imran Butt 58, Imran Khalid 51, Adnan Akmal 36, Abu Bakar Khan 23; Hazrat Shah 3-82, Kashif Bhatti 2-64, Babar Khan 2-67) and 303-8 in 72 overs (Adnan Akmal 55, Imran Butt 49, Umar Akmal 44, Hussain Talat 40, Imran Khalid 24; Sajjad Hussain 2-42, Kashif Bhatti 2-85); HYDERABAD 271 in 92.5 overs (Shoaib Leghari 78, Kashif Bhatti 58, Faisal Athar 55, Azeem Ghumman 21; Asad Ali 4-34, Hussain Talat 2-35, Bilawal Bhatti 2-48, Imran Khalid 2-118).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: United Bank Limited beat Lahore Blues by an innings and 206 runs.

UNITED BANK LIMITED 432-5 declared in 116 overs (Saeed bin Nasir 128, Umair Khan 100, Shan Masood 70, Sohaib Maqsood 64, Sharjeel Khan 39; Agha Salman 2-24, Mohammad Saeed 2-87); LAHORE BLUES 96 in 31.1 overs (Agha Salman 56; Ehsan Adil 4-38, Rumman Raees Khan 2-6, Mir Hamza 2-30) and 130 in 32 overs (Mohammad Akhlaq 46, Farhan Khan 46; Yasim Murtaza 4-6, Mir Hamza 4-39).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ISLAMABAD 326 in 91.5 overs (Abid Ali 136, Shahid Yousuf 70, Zohaib Ahmed 28, Naeem Anjum 23; Zohaib Shera 5-126, Mohammad Sami 3-38); PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 47-2 in 14 overs (Faraz Ali 24 not out; Shehzad Azam Rana 2-20).

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: PESHAWAR 246 in 75.4 overs (Akbar Badshah 53, Israrullah 48, Adil Amin 25, Zohaib Khan 25, Musadiq Ahmed 25; Tabish Khan 3-65, Mohammad Amir 3-68, Sohail Khan 2-67); SUI SOUTHERN GAS COMPANY 117-4 in 36.1 overs (Asif Zakir 47 not out, Wajid Ali 29 not out; Shah Faisal 3-14).

Pool ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: KARACHI WHITES 227 in 105.5 overs (Mohammad Hasan 73, Saad Ali 60, Jaahid Ali 47, Mohammad Waqas 20; Zia-ul-Haq 6-40) and 96-4 in 43.2 overs (Mohammad Waqas 38, Saad Ali 21 not out); NATIONAL BANK OF PAKISTAN 465-4 declared in 102.3 overs (Fawad Alam 224 not out, Umar Waheed 125, Akbar-ur-Rehman 103 not out; Sohaib Khan 2-116).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: LAHORE WHITES 344 in 115.2 overs (Anas Mahmood 70, Usman Salahuddin 59, Mukhtar Ahmed 49, Sami Aslam 46, Mohammad Waheed 40, Asfand Mehran 28; Junaid Khan 4-94, Mohammad Irfan 3-67); WAPDA 199-5 in 60 overs (Mohammad Saad 91 not out, Adnan Raees 44, Iftikhar Ahmed 21; Fahad Masood 2-45).

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: Khan Research Laboratories beat Federally Administered Tribal Areas by 10 wickets.

FEDERALLY ADMINISTERED TRIBAL AREAS 168 in 78 overs (Haroon Sadaqat 37, Fawad Khan 26, Rehan Afridi 21; Nauman Ali 4-27, Mohammad Abbas 4-62, Majid Ali 2-24) and 99 in 30 overs (Samar Gul 25, Fawad Khan 20; Mohammad Abbas 5-54, Yasir Ali 3-11, Majid Ali 2-30); KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES 107 in 32.5 overs (Saeed Anwar Jr 34, Luqman Butt 23; Mohammad Zeeshan 5-58, Razaullah Wazir 3-18) and 161-0 in 37 overs (Zain Abbas 79 not out, Imam-ul-Haq 75 not out).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: RAWALPINDI 183 in 41.4 overs (Naved Yasin 76, Babar Naeem 50; Ammad Butt 5-34, Umar Gul 2-59); HABIB BANK LIMITED 181 in 54.3 overs (Imran Farhat 58, Jamal Anwar 32; Sohail Tanvir 4-54, Yasir Arafat 4-56).

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2015