Trouble-marred PIA seek elusive win

KARACHI: The last round of department versus region fixtures in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship throws up intriguing permutations with former champions PIA still searching for the first victory.

A side that look apparently in disarray because of internal issues relating to team selection, PIA can only blame themselves for three straight defeats in as many outings thus far. Led by Pakistan discard Anwar Ali, the national carrier has seldom been allowed to fly high on the playing field.

Deserving players in the squad have not been given proper opportunities to showcase their potential chiefly because the policy of favouring certain individuals is the order of the day.

Unless the PIA team function as a cohesive unit, the prospects of another debacle looms large upon them when they travel to the Pindi Cricket Stadium to take on Sohail Tanvir-led Rawalpindi side from Saturday.

Rawalpindi are brimming with confidence after securing three points in the draw with NBP, who along with the resurgent Fata now prepare to have their first taste of Kookaburra pink ball Fata in the day-night game at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Fata will be out to surprise NBP after having comfortably earned a deserving 157-run victory against PIA in Sialkot on Tuesday with upcoming fast bowler Irfanullah Shah grabbing eight wickets in the match.

Runaway Pool ‘A’ leaders Wapda face a good test against Peshawar at the Arbab Niaz Stadium which like a fortress for the regional outfit which is being coached by Abdul Rehman who have already guided Peshawar to two National T20 titles in successive seasons.

Another side in heaps of trouble at the moment is Karachi Blues.

After suffering successive losses against Wapda and HBL, the underperforming region now prepare for another tough battle against SSGC here at the National Stadium.

HBL have a golden opportunity of securing a hat-trick of victories when Lahore Blues meet them at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad. Another win will certainly assure the bankers a place in the Super Eight round.

Current champions SNGPL will be aiming to topple Karachi Whites at the UBL Sports Complex under the shrewd guidance of ex-Pakistan batsman Basit Ali.

With the likes of Adnan Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan fresh from centuries in the previous fixture, stand-in skipper Mohammad Hafeez will be eying a ton for himself after getting good starts in several innings the out-of-favour Pakistan opening batsman had.

KRL, who lead SNGPL by three points in Pool ‘B’, are aiming for another success against Lahore Whites at the LCCA Ground in Lahore. Against Karachi Whites, their strike bowler Mohammad Abbas returned magnificent figures of 6-47 and 8-46, giving the in-form seamer a match bag of 14-93.

The 26-year-old Sialkot-born Abbas is also the season’s leading wicket-taker with a remarkable tally of 29 victims from just three games so far. He is someone the national selectors should be taking notice of. Although he doesn’t have out-and-out pace, Abbas brings great value since he has the knack of being unplayable at times with lateral seam movement on both sides.

With Pakistan ‘A’ completing a highly successful tour of Zimbabwe under Sohaib Maqsood a few days ago, it is still unclear whether the players who made the trip to the African country will be in action immediately.

But if they do play, then last season’s runners-up UBL will be bolstered by the return of Sohaib and company when they meet Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground in the federal capital.

The upcoming fixtures will be the last for some 20-odd cricketers who will be playing their talent in the Bangladesh Premier League which begins on Nov 4 and lasts until Dec 9 if their respective franchises progress to the deep end to the lucrative T20 tournament.

Fourth-round schedule (Oct 22-25):

Pool ‘A’: Karachi Blues vs SSGC (National Stadium, Karachi); Lahore Blues vs HBL (Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad); Islamabad vs UBL (Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad); Peshawar vs Wapda (Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar).

Pool ‘B’: Karachi Whites vs SNGPL (UBL Sports Complex, Karachi); Lahore Whites vs KRL (LCCA Ground, Lahore); Fata vs NBP (Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, D/N), Rawalpindi vs PIA (Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi).

Current standings

(Tabulated under: played, won, lost, drawn, points):

Pool ‘A’

Wapda 3 3 0 0 28

HBL 3 2 0 1 18

UBL 3 1 0 2 15

SSGC 3 1 0 2 13

Islamabad 3 0 2 1 3

Lahore Blues 3 0 2 1 1

Peshawar 3 0 1 2 0

Karachi Blues 3 0 2 1 0

Pool ‘B’