KARACHI: PIA finally put their in-house troubles behind when they sealed a nerve-wracking two-wicket win over Rawalpindi in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship on Tuesday.

A second-innings declaration from Rawalpindi skipper Sohail Tanvir left PIA chasing 260 at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

Powered by opener Agha Sabir’s 83-ball 72 and quickfire 38 off 26 balls (five fours) from captain Anwar Ali, PIA ended a run of three straight defeats by reaching the target in 43.5 overs.

The left-handed Sabir, playing his first-class match after a lapse of exactly three years at the age of 35, was in dominant form as he struck 12 boundaries.

Earlier, Rawalpindi added 78 to their overnight tally of 259-6 before PIA, who earned their first nine points of the season, were able to enjoy their first success in first-class cricket after two seasons after having to qualify for the current championship following their demotion at the end of the domestic season in 2014-15.

Pool ‘A’ leaders Wapda rode on Pakistan discarded wicket-keeper/batsman Kamran Akmal’s third century of the championship to seal a six-wicket victory over Peshawar at the Arbab Niaz Stadium.

The 34-year-old Kamran guided Wapda to their fourth success on the trot by striking 14 boundaries in his undefeated knock of 116 from 163 deliveries after beginning the fourth and final day on eight in his team’s total of 72-4.

Peshawar were in the game as Wapda needed a further 151 at start of play on Tuesday but Kamran’s 26th first-class century quashed their hopes in the unfinished stand of 162 with opener Adnan Raees, who made 68 off 244 balls with four fours.

Wapda now have 34 points, 10 more than second-placed UBL with HBL third on 18 after SSGC failed in their bid to overtake them when Karachi Blues, inspired by centuries from Fazal Subhan and Saud Shakeel, forced a draw here at the National Stadium.

Having gone 218 behind on the first innings, Karachi Blues resumed their second innings at 187-2 while still requiring 31 to make SSGC bat again.

But Fazal, 69 overnight, reached his sixth ton his career as the 28-year-old right-hander compiled 149 off 206 balls while hitting 16 fours and one six as he and Saud put on 99 for the fourth wicket.

The 21-year-old Saud went into make exactly 100 (184 balls, 11 fours) when the match came to an end with Karachi Blues posting 448-7.

KRL’s failure to defeat Lahore Whites at the LCCA Ground in Lahore left them in second spot behind Pool ‘A’ leaders and defending champions SNGPL.

Lahore Whites opted for safety after being asked to chase 336 following KRL’s closure of their second innings at 242-6.

The regional side’s saviour was debutant opener Rizwan Hussain who scored 126 from 187 balls with the aid of nine fours and seven sixes as his team collected 229-5.

Maiden first-class hundreds from Fata’s Asif Ali and wicket-keeper Abdul Aziz frustrated NBP in the drawn day-night game at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Asif scored 225 (off 406 balls) in 548 minutes with 24 boundaries and Aziz an unbeaten 109 (346 balls) in 447 minutes with 10 fours after joining hands on Monday evening.

Fata, who began the day at 363-4, progressed to 584-5 in 181 overs after starting their second innings with a huge deficit of 335 runs. The fifth-wicket partnership between Asif and Aziz yielded 279.

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

Fourth round:

Pool ‘A’:

At National Stadium, Karachi: Match drawn.

KARACHI BLUES 206 in 84.2 overs (Owais Ahmed Rehmani 68, Khalid Latif 32, Mohammad Sami 29, Fazal Subhan 27; Zia-ul-Haq 4-33, Shoaib Malik 2-31, Ahmed Iqbal 2-32, Aamir Yamin 2-48) and 448-7 in 121.4 overs (Fazal Subhan 149, Saud Shakeel 100 not out, Khurram Manzoor 86, Mohammad Sami 40; Zafar Gohar 2-96); SSGC 424 in 118 overs (Asif Zakir 127, Shoaib Malik 114, Umar Amin 40, Zain Abbas 27, Zia-ul-Haq 24 not out, Fawad Alam 22; Basit Ali 3-120, Saud Shakeel 2-14, Abdul Ameer 2-91, Sohaib Khan 2-96).

At Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar: Wapda beat Peshawar by six wickets.

PESHAWAR 273 in 93 overs (Israrullah 59, Akbar Badshah 56, Sahibzada Farhan 38, Ashfaq Ahmed 35, Sajid Khan 30 not out; Waqas Maqsood 4-42, Khalid Usman 3-49) and 129 in 59.2 overs (Akbar Badshah 35, Jamaluddin 33; Waqas Maqsood 4-28, Mohammad Asif 4-33); WAPDA 180 in 55.4 overs (Kamran Akmal 74, Ayaz Tasawwar 39, Mohammad Saad 20; Sajid Khan 5-50, Taj Wali 4-36) and 224-4 in 78.2 overs (Kamran Akmal 116 not out, Adnan Raees 68 not out).

Pool ‘B’:

At: LCCA Ground, Lahore: Match drawn.

KRL 352 in 132 overs (Abdul Rehman Muzammil 96, Sardar Hasan Raza 93, Zulfiqar Jan 40, Shoaib Ahmed 38, Yasir Ali 24; Umaid Asif 3-73, Saif-ur-Rehman 2-60, Adnan Rasool 2-60, Qaiser Ashraf 2-77) and 242-6 declared in 54 overs (Sardar Hasan Raza 78, Abdul Rehman Muzammil 69 not out, Nayyar Abbas 31 not out, Saeed Anwar Jr 24; Qaiser Ashraf 5-72); LAHORE WHITES 259 in 83.1 overs (Gohar Hafeez 44, Rameez Alam 43, Farhan Khan 41, Rizwan Hussain 36, Umaid Asif 36; Nayyar Abbas 4-85, Shoaib Ahmed Minhas 2-35, Mohammad Abbas 2-50) and 229-5 in 63 overs (Rizwan Hussain 126, Mohammad Waheed 37, Rameez Alam 20 not out; Nayyar Abbas 2-87).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (day-night fixture): Match drawn.

FATA 192 in 53.5 overs (Mohammad Naeem 67, Khushdil Shah 44; Mohammad Irfan 3-51, Altaf Ahmed 3-61, Atif Jabbar 2-55) and 584-5 in 180 overs (Asif Ali 225, Abdul Aziz 109 not out, Khushdil Shah 101, Mohammad Naeem 45, Fawad Khan 35, Mohammad Irfan 35 not out); NBP 527-8 declared in 104 overs (Ahsan Ali 200 not out, Qaiser Abbas 151 not out, Mohammad Irfan 52, Rameez Raja 46, Naved Yasin 26; Ahmed Asfandyar 2-84, Saad Altaf 2-98).

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: PIA beat Rawalpindi by two wickets.

RAWALPINDI 198 in 58 overs (Taimur Khan 90, Sarmad Hameed 29, Yasir Hameed 28; Salman Saeed 3-43, Aizaz Cheema 3-55, Anwar Ali 3-56) and 337-7 declared in 124 overs (Sarmad Hameed 100, Yasir Hameed 87, Taimur Khan 48 not out, Umar Waheed 40, Naved Malik 22, Mukhtar Ahmed 20; Aizaz Cheema 2-78, Anwar Ali 2-83); PIA 276 in 90.2 overs (Shaharyar Ghani 97, Anwar Ali 75, Obaidullah 51; Mohammad Talha 5-83, Sohail Tanvir 2-13, Ataullah 2-59) and 261-8 in 43.5 overs (Agha Sabir 72, Fahad Iqbal 38, Anwar Ali 38, Kamran Sajid 32; Ataullah 4-76, Abid Hasan 2-75).

Published in Dawn October 26th, 2016