KARACHI: United Bank Limited (UBL) were the only winners in the remaining five fourth-round matches in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship on Thursday as they outclassed Hyderabad by 263 runs at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad.

Inspired by a magnificent century from skipper Khalid Latif, Port Qasim Authority (PQA) pulled off a dramatic draw from the jaws of defeat while denying Peshawar seven extra points had the regional side won by innings at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar.

Karachi Whites also took three points after a maiden first-class century from Zain Abbas guided Khan Research Laboratories to safety in the only Pool ‘B’ fixture of this round that went into the fourth day.

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) both got first-innings points in the drawn matches against Lahore Blues and Islamabad, respectively.

Hyderabad, who were chasing an improbable target of 455, added only 141 runs to their overnight second-innings tally of 50-2 and were all out for 191 to enable UBL to seal their third success which not only increased the bankers’ points to 29 at the top of Pool ‘A’ but also guaranteed them a Super Eight place.

UBL were expecting an early finish when the fifth wicket fell at 73, but all-rounder Mir Ali Talpur kept them waiting with a defiant 73-ball 84 featuring nine boundaries and four sixes.

Left-arm seamer Mir Hamza didn’t add to his two wickets claimed on Thursday but the promising youngster, who is in the Pakistan ‘A’ squad to take on English Lions in a T20 series next month in the UAE, finished with match figures of 7-83.

In one of the greatest comebacks in the history of domestic cricket, PQA secured an honourable draw when it seemed inevitable that Peshawar would take all 10 points as the departmental outfit had slumped to 186-6 at stumps on Wednesday.

On the fourth and final day, PQA still required 197 to make Peshawar bat again, having started their second innings after conceding a massive 383-run lead to Peshawar. But Khalid and fellow Pakistan discard Mohammad Talha defied the bowlers to share a superb partnership of 121 as PQA added 230 in 70.2 overs.

Talha, known mainly for his fast bowling, slammed 10 fours and three sixes in scoring a career-best 76 off 74.

Azam Hussain (32) then provided Khalid more support in another crucial stand of 82 before Ali Dawood helped his captain put on 69 for the ninth wicket when Khalid was finally dismissed for 134 (off 279 balls, 22 fours and three sixes) after being at the crease for 377 minutes. Ali scored just five but more importantly faced 89 balls in a stay of 127 minutes as he and Khalid survived almost 30 overs together.

When PQA were all out for 416, Peshawar needed only 34 runs from 13 overs that remained. But in the end only two overs were bowled as PQA resorted to delaying tactics before bad light finally had the last word with the hosts reaching 10-1.

KRL began the last day against Karachi Whites with 17 runs still needed to overcome the first-innings deficit of 128. But Karachi Whites chose to play safe by spreading the field far and wide to prevent the rival side scoring freely and ensure they take three points.

By the time the game closed when Zain was caught in the deep for 178 (273 balls, 20 boundaries) off an attempted hook, KRL had advanced to 328-5 in their second innings.

Abdul Rehman Muzammil (57) helped the 24-year-old Zain put on 164 for the fourth wicket in the only bright spot of an otherwise dull day of cricket.

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

Fourth round:

Pool ‘A’:

At Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad: United Bank beat Hyderabad by 263 runs.

UNITED BANK LIMITED 259 in 74.5 overs (Sharjeel Khan 73, Umair Khan 54, Gulraiz Sadaf 50, Rumman Raees Khan 25 not out; Sajjad Hussain 3-62, Nasir Awais 3-89, Hazrat Shah 2-36) and 392-9 declared in 84.5 overs (Sohaib Maqsood 83, Yasim Murtaza 83, Ehsan Adil 58 not out, Hammad Azam 55, Shan Masood 33, Rumman Raees Khan 27, Umair Khan 26; Sajjad Hussain 5-72, Nasir Awais 2-99); HYDERABAD 197 in 67.5 overs (Zeeshan Gul 63, Shoaib Leghari 39, Mir Ali Talpur 30; Mir Hamza 5-42, Hammad Azam 2-25) and 191 in 64.1 overs (Mir Ali Talpur 84, Rizwan Ahmed 31, Azeem Ghumman 26; Yasim Murtaza 3-27, Rumman Raees Khan 2-36, Ehsan Adil 2-37, Mir Hamza 2-41).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Match drawn.

SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LIMITED 445 in 105.5 overs (Adnan Akmal 148, Bilawal Bhatti 72, Umar Akmal 54, Taufiq Umar 36, Naeemuddin 33, Misbah-ul-Haq 30, Imran Khalid 27; Agha Salman 4-60, Aftab Azwar 3-116, Mohammad Saeed 2-104) and 251-6 declared in 39 overs (Misbah-ul-Haq 58, Taufiq Umar 54, Imran Khalid 40 not out, Adnan Akmal 34 not out, Umar Akmal 23l Aftab Azwar 3-70, Mohammad Saeed 2-63); LAHORE BLUES 380 in 100 overs (Saad Nasim 104, Fahad-ul-Haq 98, Agha Salman 97, Farhan Khan 27; Asad Ali 5-94, Samiullah Khan Niazi 3-61, Imran Khalid 2-109) and 262-6 in 62 overs (Waqas Saleem 78, Mohammad Akhlaq 69, Mohsin Nadeem 27, Saad Nasim 24, Fahad-ul-Haq 21 not out; Imran Khalid 3-86, Bilawal Bhatti 2-39).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Match drawn.

SUI SOUTHERN GAS COMPANY 375 in 113.4 overs (Umar Amin 161, Asif Zakir 115, Mohammad Amir 25, Wajid Ali 22; Hasan Ali 5-65, Shehzad Azam Rana 3-104, Zohaib Ahmed 2-86) and 216-8 declared in 57 overs (Usman Tariq 59, Asif Zakir 44, Tariq Haroon 35 not out; Hasan Ali 3-68, Shahzad Azam Rana 2-50, Munir-ur-Rehman Tanzeel 2-54); ISLAMABAD 325 in 96 overs (Abid Ali 131, Faizan Riaz 58, Afaq Raheem 34, Naeem Anjum 30, Zohaib Ahmed 22, Shahid Yousuf 20; Mohammad Amir 3-52, Tabish Khan 2-54, Sohail Khan 2-109) and 69-1 in 19 overs (Afaq Raheem 44). At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: Match drawn.

PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 107 in 39.5 overs (Kamran Younis 32, Azam Hussain 31, Khurram Manzoor 23; Taj Wali 5-30, Nasir Ahmed 4-52) and 416 in 144.2 overs (Khalid Latif 134, Khurram Manzoor 84, Mohammad Talha 76, Azam Hussain 32, Faraz Ali 27; Taj Wali 3-151, Akbar Badshah 2-17, Mehran Alam 2-73); PESHAWAR 490-4 declared in 120 overs (Zohaib Khan 154 not out, Mohammad Wasif Nawaz 94, Israrullah 80, Musadiq Ahmed 59 not out, Ashfaq Ahmed 41, Akbar Badshah 39; Azam Hussain 3-126) and 10-1 in 2 overs.

Pool ‘B’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Match drawn.

KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES 296 in 77.2 overs (Nayyar Abbas 85, Luqman Butt 83, Mohammad Yasin 28, Zain Abbas 20; Sohaib Khan 5-74, Ghulam Mudassar 3-91) and 328-5 in 105.5 overs (Zain Abbas 178, Abdul Rehman Muzammil 57, Mohammad Yasin 43, Imam-ul-Haq 23; Babar Rehman 2-59); KARACHI WHITES 424 in 137.5 overs (Saud Shakeel 114 not out, Arsalan Bashir 82, Saad Ali 82, Jaahid Ali 55, Haris Ali Khan 36; Nayyar Abbas 4-95, Mohammad Abbas 2-65).

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2015

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