KARACHI: The battle for the Super Eight places in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship intensifies from this week with the mid-table teams keen to score points as the fifth round heralds the exclusive departmental rivalry as well as the region vs region match-ups.
For some sides the lack of stars in their respective squads will not only rob the competition of its already fading gloss but considerably lessen their prospects for the sterner challenge in the coming weeks as no less than 16 top players will ply their talent in the Bangladesh Premier League at least until Dec 15.
On top of that another group of players will be on Pakistan ‘A’ duty from Dec 2 to 16 in the UAE where they play England Lions in five T20 matches, while several others are unavailable because of their involvement in the three Twenty20 Internationals against England from Nov 26 until Nov 30.
In the fixtures starting on Monday, Pool ‘A’ leaders United Bank Limited (UBL) welcome their appointed skipper and Pakistan great Younis Khan for the game against third-placed Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) at the Marghazar Cricket Ground in Islamabad, while SSGC will be depleted by the absence of Mohammad Amir.
Another victory for UBL would consolidate their current standing as well as put them in a happy frame of mind despite the fact they will miss the services of four regulars — Sohaib Maqsood, Sharjeel Khan, Mir Hamza and Rumman Raees Khan — for the last two rounds of fixtures because they will have the opportunity to test out those sitting on bench.
Second-placed Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) will surely have their work cut as they prepare to tackle the unpredictable Port Qasim Authority (PQA) at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Not only they will be without the temperamental Umar Akmal (currently on Pakistan T20 stint before he flies to Dhaka for BPL), they will miss senior stalwarts regular captain Misbah-ul-Haq (BPL) and Mohammad Hafeez, who is expected to be back for the crucial last-round clash against UBL.
PQA, on the other hand, will take a lot of confidence into this game after their sensational come-from-behind draw against Peshawar in the fourth round.
National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), who are currently enjoying an 18-point advantage as Pool ‘B’ trendsetters, take on Wapda at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.
With Fawad Alam in red-hot form while averaging 317 from his two appearances in the championship thus far, NBP should not feel the absence of their long-serving skipper Kamran Akmal and Nasir Jamshed at least in this round where Fawad will assume the added responsibility of captaincy.
After dropping points in the draw against Karachi Whites last week, Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) will be anxious to keep Habib Bank Limited (HBL) at bay when the two meet at the National Ground in Islamabad, which is hosting three fifth-round matches this week.
At the time of writing KRL were awaiting the arrival of Test fast bowler Rahat Ali, who was part of the Pakistan squad, which lost the one-day series against England, but didn’t play in any of the four matches in the UAE after the final Test against Alastair Cook’s men.
Among the all-region ties, the pick of them is the Rawalpindi-Karachi Whites encounter at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.
Fifth-round schedule (Nov 23-26):
Pool ‘A’: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited vs Port Qasim Authority (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad); Lahore Blues vs Peshawar (LCCA Ground, Lahore); United Bank Limited vs Sui Southern Gas Company (Marghazar Cricket Ground, Islamabad); Islamabad vs Hyderabad (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad).
Pool ‘B’: Lahore Whites vs Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore); National Bank of Pakistan vs Wapda (Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot); Rawalpindi vs Karachi Whites (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi); Habib Bank Limited vs Khan Research Laboratories (National Ground, Islamabad).
Current standings
(Tabulated under played, won, lost, drawn, points):
Pool ‘A’
United Bank 4 3 0 1 29
SNGPL 4 1 0 3 18
SSGC 4 2 0 3 14
Port Qasim 4 1 0 3 10
Peshawar 4 0 0 4 7
Hyderabad 4 0 3 1 3
Lahore Blues 4 0 2 2 3
Islamabad 4 0 1 3 1
Pool ‘B’
National Bank 4 3 0 1 33
KRL 4 2 0 2 15
Habib Bank 4 1 0 3 13
Wapda 4 1 0 3 13
Karachi Whites 4 0 1 3 9
Rawalpindi 4 0 1 3 6
Lahore Whites 4 0 3 1 3
Fata 4 0 2 2 0
Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2015
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.