KARACHI: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) extended their lead in the President’s Trophy Grade-I National Cricket Championship with a massive win, while National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) scored their second straight three-day victory on Saturday.

SNGPL’s latest victims were United Bank Limited (UBL) who capitulated for 74 in their second innings to hand the leaders a clinical victory by an innings and 216 runs at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

After adding 27 runs in 10 overs before skipper Misbah-ul-Haq applied closure to SNGPL’s innings at 455-5, the 24-year-old paceman Asad Ali helped himself to career-best figures of seven for 42 to send the hapless UBL crashing to their fifth defeat in six matches.

SNGPL now have 45 points with this their fifth triumph of the season.

NBP, meanwhile, celebrated their second victory by sealing an innings and 31 runs against State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore to take their tally of points to 21.

Left-arm seamer Wahab Riaz, who captured his best figures in first-class cricket on Friday with 7-29, completed a 10-wicket match bag by taking three for 34 as SBP subsided to 137 all out after resuming at their second innings at 28-3. Hammad Azam took another wicket to finish with 3-13, while the remaining wickets were evenly shared by Uzair-ul-Haq and Mohammad Imran Khan.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) need another 88 runs to record their fourth win in the championship after reaching 104-4 against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) at the Diamond Club Ground in Islamabad with their hopes lying squarely on the experienced shoulders of Faisal Iqbal (22) and Shoaib Malik (5).

Earlier in the day, ZTBL folded up in their second innings for 131 after having began the penultimate day of the four-day fixture at 16-0. Barring a sixth-wicket partnership of 44 between Atif Ashraf (28) and Sohail Tanvir (31), no one else managed to survive against the pace trio of Aizaz Cheema (4-55), Anwar Ali (3-19) and Najaf Shah (2-44).

Haris Sohail, the hero of the first innings with 120, was caught by Sohaib Khan off Anwar Ali for just five. Discarded Pakistan wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed held five catches on Saturday to take his haul in this game to seven.

When PIA began their chase, skipper Kamran Sajid led the way by striking a 51-ball 37 with four boundaries before losing his wicket to left-arm paceman Mohammad Khalil.

Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) were 21-2 at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad while chasing 118 to condemn the winless Port Qasim Authority (PQA) to their fifth loss.

After adding just two runs to their overnight tally of 269-9 before losing their last wicket, Wapda’s bowlers, led by left-arm pace-cum-spin duo of Junaid Khan and Zulfiqar Babar dismissed PQA for 173 in the second innings. Junaid took 3-64 to take eight for 132 in the match, while Zulfiqar snared 5-40 in 21 overs to claim game figures of eight for 78.

Habib Bank batted throughout the day to extend their Friday’s second-innings total from 105-1 to 350-8 against Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) at the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi. The bankers lead by 252 to set up an intriguing lat day of action on Sunday.

Pakistan opener Imran Farhat registered his 25th first-class century with aggressive knock of 102 from 103 deliveries with the help of 16 boundaries and one six. Ahmed Shehzad fell for 75 (147 balls, 10 fours) after adding 123 for the second wicket with his left-handed partner.

Skipper Younis Khan then struck 58 off 127 balls with six hits to the fence and together with fellow Test batsman Asad Shafiq shared a fourth-wicket stand worth 91. The diminutive Asad is still batting with a solid 68, his 149-ball innings includes 10 boundaries.

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

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: National Bank of Pakistan beat State Bank of Pakistan by an innings and 31 runs.

NATIONAL BANK OF PAKISTAN 304 in 93.1 overs (Sami Aslam 89, Qaiser Abbas 66, Wahab Riaz 31, Umair Khan 30; Saad Altaf 5-75, Kashif Siddique 2-18, Mohammad Ali 2-56); STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN 136 in 47.1 overs (Kashif Siddique 27; Wahab Riaz 7-29, Uzair-ul-Haq 2-34) and 137 in 45.4 overs (Hammad Azam 3-13, Wahab Riaz 3-34, Uzair-ul-Haq 2-8, Mohammad Imran Khan 2-46).

At Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad: PORT QASIM AUTHORITY 215 in 59.5 overs (Tanvir Ahmed 46, Umar Amin 43, Abdur Rauf 43; Junaid Khan 5-68, Zulfiqar Babar 3-38) and 173 in 55 overs (Mohammad Salman 36; Zulfiqar Babar 5-40, Junaid Khan 3-64); WATER AND POWER DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 271 in 89 overs (Ali Azmat 61, Sohaib Maqsood 58, Zulfiqar Babar 37, Mohammad Ayub Dogar 36; Azam Hussain 4-68, Ahmed Jamal 3-63, Tanvir Ahmed 2-64) and 21-2 in 14 overs.

At Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited beat United Bank Limited by an innings and 216 runs. UNITED BANK LIMITED 165 in 47.1 overs (Abid Ali 82; Mohammad Hafeez 4-13, Asad Ali 2-38) and 74 in 16.3 overs (Asad Ali 7-42, Samiullah Khan Niazi 2-28); SUI NORTHERN GAS PIPELINES LIMITED 455-5 declared in 116 overs (Mohammad Hafeez 193, Misbah-ul-Haq 109, Ali Waqas 95; Shabbir Ahmed 2-49, Rumman Raees Khan 2-129).

At KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi: HABIB BANK LIMITED 161 in 53.5 overs (Ehsan Adil 31; Ali Khan 4-52, Rahat Ali 2-34, Mohammad Irfan 2-43) and 350-8 in 102 overs ((Imran Farhat 102, Ahmed Shehzad 75, Asad Shafiq 68 not out, Younis Khan 58; Nauman Ali 3-68, Saeed Anwar Jr 2-39, Ali Khan 2-52); KHAN RESEARCH LABORATORIES 253 in 68.4 overs (Naved Yasin 40, Zain Abbas 38, Nauman Ali 32 not out; Ehsan Adil 6-58, Fahad Masood 3-57).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: ZARAI TARAQIATI BANK LIMITED 212 in 83.3 overs (Haris Sohail 120, Zohaib Khan 33; Najaf Shah 4-63, Anwar Ali 3-59, Aizaz Cheema 2-38) and 131 in 42.1 overs (Sohail Tanvir 31; Aizaz Cheema 4-55, Anwar Ali 3-19, Najaf Shah 2-44); PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES 152 in 45.5 overs (Janisar Khan 28; Mohammad Khalil 5-62, Sohail Tanvir 3-23, Rehan Riaz 2-50) and 104-4 in 24.5 overs (Kamran Sajid 37, Faisal Iqbal 22 not out; Mohammad Khalil 2-32, Sohail Tanvir 2-43).

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