KARACHI: PIA scored their first victory in the RBS Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship when they whipped Pakistan Customs by 10 wickets on the final afternoon of the four-day Group ‘A’ match at the National Stadium here on Sunday.

Customs, trailing by 96 runs on the first innings, folded up for 142 after staring the day at 85-4 in their second innings. PIA needed only 8.5 overs to knock off the required 47 runs with Test discard Yasir Hameed striking eight boundaries in his unbeaten 35.

Paceman Aizaz bin Ilyas played a key role in his team’s well-deserved success by claiming eight wickets in the match, including 5-27 in the Customs’ second innings.

While Customs are firmly rooted to the bottom of pool standings with three consecutive losses, PIA moved up to fourth spot with 15 points from three matches. National Bank top the Group ‘A’ standings with 21 points followed by Habib Bank (18) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) who have 15 points from two games.

Karachi Blues, meanwhile, consolidated their position as Group ‘B’ leaders with maximum 27 points after recording a thrilling two-wicket win over hosts Islamabad at the Diamond Club Ground.

The Blues, chasing a modest 197, lost their way a bit after openers Khalid Latif (37) and Ali Asad (57) put on 74.

 But wicket-keeper Javed Mansoor ensured a third successive victory for the visitors with a composed unbeaten 33 off 50 balls.

Earlier paceman Tanvir Ahmed completed his second 10-wicket haul on the trot by taking the final two wickets to fall in Islamabad’s second innings on Sunday. He finished with innings figures of 6-104 and a match bag of 10-193.

Abbottabad chalked up their first win when they trounced Hyderabad by 217 runs at the Abbottabad Cricket Stadium. Left-arm fast bowler Junaid Khan grabbed 6-89 as Hyderabad crumbled for 215 after being set a daunting target of 433.

Our Sports Reporter adds from Lahore: As expected SNGPL cantered to an emphatic innings and 53-run win as Lahore Shalimar were dismissed for 260 in the second innings of the Group ‘A’ tie at the LCCA Ground.

Tailender Mohammad Naved, however, stood out for the regional outfit as he slammed a career-best 75. The paceman’s fighting 55-ball effort was laced with 15 fours and one six.

Paceman Asad Ali was the pick of SNGPL’s bowlers with 5-64 in 21 overs. He claimed 8-116 in the match.

Wapda secured their first points of the season after opting for batting practice on the final day of the clash against Habib Bank at the Gaddafi Stadium. Resuming their second innings at 7-1, Wapda reached 316-6 when stumps were drawn.

Peshawar also preferred to bat on aimlessly to hold Faisalabad for a tedious draw at the Sports Stadium in Sargodha. Peshawar, resuming their second innings at 213-3, made 459-6 with Sajjad Ahmed (117 not out) and Azam Jan (110) joining Fawad Ali (110) as century-makers. For Azam and Fawad, it was the first time they had reached three figures in first-class cricket.

Defending champions Sialkot, like Faisalabad, had to be satisfied with three first-innings points after drawing with Multan on their home territory.

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

Group ‘A’:

At NBP Sports Complex, Karachi: PIA beat Pakistan Customs by 10 wickets.

PAKISTAN CUSTOMS 227 in 87.5 overs (Jibran Khan 93, Mohammad Nabi 70 not out; Najaf Shah 4-31, Aizaz bin Ilyas 3-33) and 142 in 63.5 overs (Mohammad Nabi 42; Aizaz bin Ilyas 5-26, Ali Imran Pasha 3-25); PIA 323 in 121.1 overs (Fahad Iqbal 92, Khurram Manzoor 51, Anwar Ali 44; Mohammad Nabi 3-51) and 47-0 in 8.5 overs (Yasir Hameed 35 not out).

At Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore: Match drawn.

WAPDA 411 in 140.5 overs (Ahmed Said 101 not out, Umaid Asif 67, Aamir Sajjad 62, Ali Azmat 57, Asif Hussain 48; Danish Kaneria 4-118) and 316-6 in 81 overs (Ali Azmat 84 not out, Aamir Sajjad 69, Bilal Khilji 50, Jahangir Mirza 35); HABIB BANK 354 in 98.4 overs (Saleem Elahi 178 not out, Abdul Rehman 45, Danish Kaneria 36; Shabbir Ahmed 3-53).

At LCCA Ground, Lahore: SNGPL beat Lahore Shalimar by an innings and 53 runs.

SNGPL 609-6 declared in 118.2 overs (Misbah-ul-Haq 284, Usman Arshad 183, Naeemuddin 41, Umar Akmal 39); LAHORE SHALIMAR 296 in 77 overs (Ali Raza 69, Salman Khan 37; Asad Ali 3-52, Rizwan Akbar 3-86) and 260 in 72 overs (Mohammad Naved 75, Ali Raza 39; Asad Ali 5-64).

Group ‘B’:

At Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot: Match drawn.

MULTAN 278 in 82.4 overs (Abdur Rauf 83, Ghulam Fareed 43, Babar Ali 40; Salman Ali 3-67) and 331 in 102 overs (Naved Yasin 122, Kashif Naved 48, Gulraiz Sadaf 38; Nayyar Abbas 3-66); SIALKOT 279 in 77.5 overs (Hafiz Majid Jahangir 52, Ayub Dogar 51, Salman Ali 46, Kamran Younis 45, Nayyar Abbas 38 not out; Zulfiqar Babar 7-97) and 175-5 in 52 overs (Ayub Dogar 53 not out).

At Sports Stadium, Sargodha: Match drawn.

PESHAWAR 232 in 77.5 overs (Mohammad Rizwan 53, Azam Jan 50, Nauman Habib 35; Ahmed Hayat 5-47, Zahoor Khan 4-84) and 459-6 in 148 overs (Sajjad Ahmed 117 not out, Fawad Ali 110, Azam Jan 110, Mohammad Idrees 41); FAISALABAD 316 in 100.5 overs (Ijaz Ahmed Jr 87, Naved Latif 51, Saadat Munir 42, Imran Ahmed 42; Nauman Habib 3-61, Hammad-ul-Hasan 3-100).

At Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad: Karachi Blues beat Islamabad by two wickets.

KARACHI BLUES 396 in 98.2 overs (Shaharyar Ghani 159, Asad Shafiq 89, Javed Mansoor 55 not out; Shahzad Azam 4-111, Nasrullah 3-69, Rauf Akbar 3-100) and 197-8 in 51 overs (Ali Asad 57, Khalid Latif 37, Javed Mansoor 33 not out; Nasrullah 4-76, Shahzad Azam 3-75); ISLAMABAD 236 in 77.3 overs (Ameer Khan 69, Naeem Anjum 45; Tanvir Ahmed 4-89) and 356 in 95.4 overs (Umair Khan 53, Ameer Khan 53, Zeeshan Mushtaq 45, Raheel Majeed 44; Tanvir Ahmed 6-104).At Abbottabad Cricket Stadium: Abbottabad beat Hyderabad by 217 runs.

ABBOTTABAD 420 in 114.4 overs (Adnan Raees 159, Riaz Kail 94; Pir Zulfiqar 4-85) and 295 in 63.4 overs (Riaz Kail 72, Khalid Usman 68; Lal Kumar 7-100); HYDERABAD 283 in 76.1 overs (Aqeel Anjum 85, Shoaib Leghari 47, Sharjeel Khan 36; Khalid Usman 5-51) and 215 in 55 overs (Nasrullah Memon 68, Mir Ali Talpur 52; M. Junaid Khan 6-89, Khalid Usman 3-64).