KARACHI: Inspired by a 13-wicket haul from young paceman Mohammad Rameez, Rawalpindi came from behind to record a sensational 75-run victory over Peshawar, their fourth successive win, in the RBS Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship on Thursday.

After being dismissed for 81 in the first innings and forced to follow on, Rawalpindi hit back in great style to defeat their opponents on the third day of the four-day Group ‘B’ fixture at the National Ground in Islamabad.

Rawalpindi, overnight 198-3, were all out for 334 in the second innings with Zahid Mansoor scoring 84.

Peshawar, chasing a modest target of 153, had no answer to the 19-year-old right-arm paceman Rameez as they subsided to 77 all out with Rameez returning remarkable career-best analysis of 8-27 in 14.3 overs and match bag of 13-116.

Karachi Blues were poised for victory after Multan reached 99-3 in pursuit of a target of 316 at the National Stadium. The home team after taking a first innings lead of 148 was bowled out for 167 in the second innings.

ZTBL were facing defeat after crashing to 91-5 against Habib Bank in the Group ‘A’ match at the Marghzar Ground in Islamabad.

Habib Bank folded up for 149 in the second innings with paceman Kashif Dawood taking 6-52 which surpassed his previous career- best figures of 6-94 taken in the first innings of this game. He finished with impressive match figures of 12-146.

SNGPL, eyeing their fourth win on the trot, need a meagre 68 runs to beat KRL at the latter’s stadium in Rawalpindi after reaching 16-2 at stumps. KRL failed to cross for the second time in the match as they folded up for 180 on Thursday.

Our Sports Reporter adds from Lahore: The Group ‘A’ clash between PIA and Wapda is heading for an exciting finish after the national carrier were set a challenging target of 279 at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Wapda, facing a 55-run deficit on the first innings, declared their second innings at 333-9 after resuming the day at 65-1. Adil Nisar (61) and Jahangir Mirza (52) were the main run-getters for them.

PIA captain Sarfraz Ahmed once again excelled behind the stumps by taking four catches in the second innings to take his match haul to 10.

By close of play, PIA had reached 17-0 and will need a further 262 on Friday.

Pakistan Customs, meanwhile, at last had something to cheer about as they recorded their first win after losing all three previous matches in the championship. They beat bottom-placed Lahore Shalimar by eight wickets at the Lahore Country Club in Muridke despite a gallant unbeaten 104 from the regional team’s Sohail Idrees.

National Bank were on verge of an emphatic victory after Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) struggled to 143-6 in their second innings after conceding a huge first-innings lead of 259 runs at the Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad.

The bankers earlier declared their innings at 441-5 with Umar Amin making 147 (250 balls, 18 fours and one six).

Sialkot, the reigning champions, completed a three-day victory by nine wickets over Quetta in the Group ‘B’ game at the Jinnah Stadium in Sialkot.Lahore Ravi, despite skipper Kashif Siddique’s 121 (198 balls, 20 fours), conceded first innings lead of 31 runs to Hyderabad after they were dismissed for 348 at the LCCA Ground.

However, the home team fought back to have Hyderabad in trouble at 61-4 in the second innings.